Hernandez pulls off stunning comeback to rule National Juniors Chess tilt

MANILA, Philippines — Being the reigning women’s champion and an Olympiad veteran, everybody was looking at teenage sensation Ruelle Canino to handily rule the girls’ side of the National Juniors Chess Championships.

They were all mistaken.

Delivering one of the most shocking victories in the history of the annual tournament, unheralded Lexie Grace Hernandez crawled her way back from the grave to snatch the crown nobody believed she'd win.

From a stinging first-round defeat, the 19-year-old Ateneo standout fought her way back by scoring 5.5 points in the last six rounds, including a snappy 46-move win over second seed Jersey Marticio in the last round.

The rampage sent her tied for first with Daren dela Cruz, who also had 5.5 points after beating Karol Jozef de Guia in the final round, but emerged the new junior girls champion after getting the higher tiebreaker.

Her effort booked her a trip to the World Juniors Championships slated February next year in Petrovac, Montenegro, and earned her a 15,000 purse courtesy of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and the Philippine Sports Commission.

“I didn’t expect it,” said Hernandez, who was also a former standard and blitz Eastern Asia Youth gold winner.

Dela Cruz wound up No. 2 while Canino struggled and finished just third with five points.

The tournament was Canino for the taking but, in the end, she couldn’t find her rhythm and missed out badly on the crown that many believed was hers.

It went to Hernandez instead.