Quiñanola drops match in National Age Group chess

Regina Catherine Quiñanola lost her Round 9 match and her hold of the leaderboard of the 2017 National Age Group Chess Championships at the Robinson’s Galleria-Cebu.

Quiñanola, who had held on to a precarious half-point lead over the competition, dropped to a joint second to third places following her Round 9 loss to Blance Ellyz Bongato with 6.5 points. She gave the lead up to Irish Yngayo, who now has 7.0 points after winning over Wenseal Kaye Magoliman.

There are still six rounds left to play in the Girls U14 division, including the two rounds that was still scheduled yesterday, where Quiñanola had to play the black pieces against fellow Cebu bet Alphecca Gonzales in Round 10 and another Cebuana player, Adelyn Bensi, in Round 11.

Quiñanola is sharing the second to third spots with Ruth Joy Vinuya.

With Quiñanola suffering a bad day, Laila Camel Nadera inched her way up with a win over Frince Ezra Vajo Ocliasa in Round 8 of the Girls U18 category.

Nadera has accumulated a total of 6.5 points and is running behind top seed WFM Allanney Jia Doroy.

Round 10 is crucial for the University of San Carlos Senior High student as she gets to play Doroy in the match that will determine who will win the gold medal.

Jave Mareck Peteros also dropped to 4th place following his Round 8 loss to Christopher Khalil Kis-ing in the Boys U14 class.