Mariano named Wesley So Cup Finals MVP

NATIONAL Master Cesar Mariano was named the Jessie Villasin Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the recently concluded Wesley So Cup, the second conference of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines.

The proud son of Jaro led the Iloilo Kisela Knights past the San Juan Predators for the championship.

Mariano played Board Four or the Senior Board for the Knights and booked an impressive 16.5/24 in the playoffs and 3.5/6 in the finals against an impressive array of opponents.

It was Mariano’s crucial draw against San Juan’s International Master (IM) Ricky de Guzman with two seconds left on his clock in the last game of the finals that won his side the title.

Vietnamese import, Woman Grandmaster Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, a late addition to the Isabela Knights of Alexander squad, received the SUDECO Best Import Award in the league’s third conference called the PCAP-SMCAYALA Land Premier Cup.

Nguyen scored an impressive 78.5/90 points for a total of 87.22 percent in more than 60 matches for Isabela. She was a former Asian junior and Vietnam national

women’s champion.

IM Cris Ramayrat of the Manila Indios Bravis was named the Richess Masters Best Player of the Conference. He played the senior board for the Indios Bravos and scored the best record in the PCAP with 92/102 points (90.2 percent) in more than 68 games.

Ramayrat was a former San Francisco-usa Open champion and was the original Blitz King of the Philippines.