FCPL Chess News

National Master Robert Arellano captured the coveted title in the FCPL-ConGen Cup Battle of Champions last December 18 after scoring 8 points in the six-player double round robin event at Reef Mall.

The Battle of Champions served as the centrepiece event of the Consul General's Cup as it featured the champions of the different monthly tournaments organised by FCPL in 2009 as well as invited top players. Arellano tallied seven wins against two draws and a single loss to eventual first runner-up Jobannie C. Tabada, who had seven points.



Rolenson Loyola also had seven points but had an inferior tiebreak to settle for third place. Iran's Samer Mehdi took the fourth spot with 5 points, followed by Jumar Abo (2) and India's Santhosh P (1), who qualified to the Battle of Champions after ruling the ConGen Cup Open Active Chess Tournament, which concluded last December 17 also at Reef Mall.

(Update) Four Three other top players - Fide Master Tony Molina Sr., Marvin Marcos, Danny Baltazar and Rocky Pabalan - however failed to compete in the event because of other commitments. Pabalan, a many-time champion of the FCPL monthly competitions, missed both the ConGen Cup Active Chess Tournament and the Battle of Champions as he had to go home to his hometown in Negros Occidental earlier to attend to the funeral of his sister, who died in a motorcycle accident just a few days before the start of the active chess tournament. Our condolences to his bereaved family.

Meanwhile, in the ConGen Cup active chess event, Santhosh took the top spot with 8 points, while Jumar Abo was second with 7 points. Samer Mehdi also had seven points but settled for third with a lower tiebreak score.




(Update) The category champions were Richard Perez (Top Under-1900), Joey Tiberio (Top Under-1800), Ronnie Balilo (Top Under-1700) and Sudharsan Surya and Kyle Cedric Dolor (Top Kiddies).

In the ConGen Cup Open Blitz Tournament, Larry Dolor reigned supreme with 5.5 points in seven games. Macky Ingcongan and Joey Tiberio tallied the same output but came out second and third respectively after the tiebreaks were applied.



Philippine Consul General in Dubai and Northern Emirates Hon. Benito B. Valeriano handed out the awards to the winners later in the day. Hon. Valeriano also inducted into office the new set of officers of the FCPL.




The awarding ceremonies were followed by the FCPL Christmas party.

More photos and videos to follow.

Labels: awarding, ConGen Cup tournament