Mordido posts record win in Shell chess finals

KYLEN JOY MORDIDO became the first female player to capture the overall crown in the 25th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship (SNYACC) grand finals, ruling the juniors division in emphatic fashion at the SM MOA Music Hall in Pasay last Sunday.

The Dasmariñas National HS standout, a Candidate Master, scored 1.5 points in the last two rounds and posted an 8-point total to beat Stephen Rome Pangilinan and Julius Gonzales by 1.5 points. Carl Ancheta and Francois Magpily finished tied at fourth with five points in the 9-round Swiss system tournament sponsored by Pilipinas Shell.

Mordido, who clinched the top female honors in the Batangas leg of the regional elims, thus shared top honors with kiddies overall champion David Rey Ancheta and Far Eastern U’s Jeth Romy Morado, winner of the seniors title, at the close of the two-day championship.

Mordido’s record win in the 13-16 age division also came in the final SNYACC as Pilipinas Shell bowed out of the local chess scene after 25 years, producing world class GMs like Wesley So, Mark Paragua and Nelson Mariano II, among others.

Ancheta, a mainstay of the Corpus Christi School who topped the Cagayan de Oro elims, also sustained his hot start, sweeping his last two matches in the 7-12 category to finish with eight points, a full point ahead of Mark Jay Bacojo and Michael Concio, Jr.

Chester Reyes and Cedric Abris finished with six and five points, respectively.

Morado, a runner-up in the NCR stop of the country’s premier talent-search, scored just one point in the last two rounds for seven points but still snared the 17-20 division crown, edging Jethro Esplanada and Ali Ahmad Azote, who also wound up with identical seven points, in the tie-break.

Mordido, Ancheta and Morado, along with the other top finishers, received their prizes and trophies during awards rites graced by Pilipinas Shell Social Performance and Social Investment manager Sankie Simbulan and GM Joey Antonio.

Meanwhile, Pilipinas Shell also held a Chess Masters’ Friendly match after the event, headed by the titled players who have competed in past Shell Active Chess tournaments, including GM Darwin Laylo, IMs Nelson Mariano III, Ronald Dableo, Jerad Docena, Richilieu Salcedo III, Paulo Bersamina, Roderick Nava and Joel Pimentel, along with WIMs Mikee Charlene Suede, Bernadette Galas and Jan Jodilyn Fronda, WFM Shania Mae Mendoza and WCM Christie Bernales.