Sumngat reigns in 2010 CPG chess challenge

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National Master Elmer Sumngat of Antequera, defeated every single challenger to the Open Chess Championship of the 2010 Carlos P. Garcia Chess Challenge held last week and brought home the prize.

The tournament, sponsored by the provincial government and the Bohol Chess Players Association (BCPA) was one of the highlights of the 114thbirth anniversary of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia. Played last Wednesday and Thursday at the Casa Rey Francis, it celebrated the game of which the late Pres. CPG was an accomplished aficionado.

The President would accept any challenge for a game of chess wherever it came, said Gov. Edgar Chatto as the guest speaker during its opening ceremony.

The governor especially noted how, in Ateneo de Manila, after accepting a challenge from the Ateneo priests, CPG once faced off with thirty of the university’s best chess players. Of the number, only one could beat him. And, typical of a Boholano, the late President was as humble in defeat as he was gracious in victory.

Gov. Chatto exhorted the participants to “always aspire for greater achievements,” and reminded them to accept both losses and wins in the game as also in life, adding that a loss is only a step towards new victories.

The 2010 CPG Chess Challenge had three categories: the Open category, which was open to all participants of whatever age; the Junior category, for those from 11 to 16 years old; and the Kiddies category, which was for players ten years old and below. Of the almost fifty who competed in the tournament, thirty-eight players participated in the Open, 16 in the Junior, and nine in the Kiddies.

A blitz handicapping challenge was also held, and open to all ages. A blitz game is played in only five minutes or less.

The tournament gathered people of all ages, from those who were just seven years old, like John Rhuvic Ballares of Guiwanon, Maribojoc, to those who were well into their seventies, as can only be expected of a game that keeps the mind active.

The winners of the 2010 CPG Chess Challenge, according to their categories, are: Open Chess Championship – NM Sumngat of Antequera, champion; Glenn Pardillo of Tubigon, second; Antonio Cabibil of Cebu City, third; and Norman Longjas of Tagbilaran City, fourth.

In the Junior category, Jezreel Villamor of Tagbilaran City was the champion, with Mateo Amoto, also of Tagbilaran City , second. In the Kiddies category, Zethro Galagar of Pilar won the championship and Kate Nalitan of Tagbilaran City was second.

The Blitz Handicapping champion was Carlos Moreno of Cebu City . Roel Gallego of Calape and Johnny Torralba of Tagbilaran City is second and third placers, respectively.

The Bohol Chess Players Association is an association of Boholano chess enthusiasts with the aim of propagating the sport of chess, since it helps develop analytical thinking.

The BPCA, headed by Gallego as its president, looks forward to coordinating with the provincial government in its bid to bring the National Inter-Provincial Chess Championship here in Bohol in 2011. (pjjv/G.O. EDCom)

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