Nika Juris Nicolas, third from left, received her trophy as the champion of the 35th International Chess Festival held December 29, 2024 at the Galaxy Hotel in Krakow, Poland.
A Grade 7 student at Victory Christian International School in Pasig City, Philippines, Nicolas (Elo 1635) topped the Open Under 1800 Category with an undefeated record of 6 wins and 1 draw for a total of 6.5 points in seven games.
The tournament proved pivotal for Nicolas and boosted her FIDE rating by 86 points with a Performance rating of 2017.
NM Nicolas defeated Kacper Miąso of Poland, Mateusz Waszkiewicz of Poland and Artem Sokolvak of Ukraine in the first and three rounds, respectively.
Her three-game winning streak was snapped with a draw against Filip Korda of Poland in the fourth round.
Then she beat Arkadiusz Piwowarczyk of Poland, Nikita Alexeev of Ukraine and Ali Asgarzada of Azerbaijan in the fifth, sixth and seven round, respectively.
Rafal Skalny of Poland and Filip Korda of Poland wound up second and third with identical 5.5 points.
Rounding up the top 9 finishers with 5.0 points each were Nikita Alexeev of Ukraine, Arkadiusz Piwowarzyk of Poland, Ali Asgarzada of Azerbaijan, Marek Michaliik of Poland, Justyna Rozenska of Poland and Adam Machnik of Poland.
It shall be recalled that Nicolas was the only female who competed in the Boys’ Under-11 division of the 2023 Philippine National Youth and Schools Chess Championships grand finals in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte bagging two silver medals (Standard and Blitz) and one bronze (Rapid).
The National Master title, usually given to men, was conferred on her by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) during the awarding ceremony.
Nicolas challenged conventional practice and questioned why girls were restricted to their division. Encouraged by her mother, lawyer Nikki de Vega, who also serves as NCFP legal counsel, she ventured into the Boys’ division, proving that girls could indeed compete with boys in chess.
Nicolas’ studied chess at age 9 and joined her first tournament in February 2022, at the National Age Group Chess Championship. She showcased her skills with six wins and one loss. Today, she already holds the credentials as a candidate FIDE Master, national age-group champion, Asian youth medalist, Eastern Asia silver medalist, and a Batang Pinoy champion.
The 11-years old Nicolas will continue her European chess circuit campaign when she competes in the Prague Open on January 10-17, 2025 and Marienbad Open on January 18 -25, 2025, both in the Czech Republic