Pason is Cebu Chess Festival king

CEBU, Philippines - He may not have formal training in chess at a young age, but the youthful Allan Pason of Lapu-Lapu City etched his name in stone as the first ever champion of the Cebu Chess Festival over the weekend at the Cebu City Sports Center.

The centerpiece of the historic event was Cebu's Guinness record bid for the "World's Largest Chess Tournament in Board Game category. The record is currently held by Russia when 1, 214 participants took part in an event organized by Eugenie Kuznitsov on June 2, 2007 at the Central City Park in Krasnoyarsk.

Pason learned the sport just by observing his neighbors play when he was five years old. Never did he expect he will go home with all smiles after emerging as the grand champion.

The sophomore student from Pajo National High School (PNHS) outsmarted Christian Pondoyo from the University of Cebu using a decisive Slav Defense opening during their final encounter - the 10th match he played in the two-day battle.

“I was not expecting that I will be the grand champion because there are lots of good athletes in the competition. But my constant practice and exposure to several tournaments greatly helped me in taking home the title,” said Pason.

The 15-year-old Pason is a two-time Shell Youth Active Chess national champion. He also had a stint in the ASEAN Chess Championships where he beat a top-seed player from Vietnam.

On the other hand, the Pondoyo brothers Aldritz and Christian, both studying at the University of Cebu (UC) - unexpectedly faced each other in the quarterfinal round. When the dust settled, the 10-year-old Aldritz came out triumphant.

Aldritz, the only player from the elementary division to advance into the crucial rounds, sustained his momentum to outwit Jazzelle Villarin of the University of San Carlos (USC) to lift the third place trophy.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) chairman Edward Hayco is very elated on the successful conduct of their record-breaking attempt.

CCSC made it sure that the new record they will be establishing is unbreakable as they accumulated a total of 43, 157 participants, which saw action for two months in classroom and school-based competitions up to the grand finals over the weekend.

 “We want to transform Cebu into a mecca of chess. We will be holding this annually wherein every player all over the country will come here in Cebu just to experience how it is being part of this momentous event. They will come here not to win but will do some sort of a pilgrimage, a gathering of people who are passionate for the sport chess,” said Hayco.

Although no representative from Guinness came to witness the affair, Hayco said they strictly monitored and properly documented all games so that their attempt will not be declared null and void.

As part of the guidelines, among the witnesses tapped by CCSC include Chess Cebu Association president Benjamin "Boggie" Lim, Jr., Frank Pestaño, and Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association Romualdo Muralla, Jr. along with chess experts FIDE Master Anthony Makinano and IM Kim Steven Yap.

Three FIDE arbiters - Felix Poloyapoy (chief arbiter), Luis Navaja of UC and Roger Abella (tournament director) - ensured the smooth flow of the competition.  (FREEMAN)