by Marlon Bernardino
Filipino players dominated the International Chess Day Blitz Tournament 2021 held at the Dubai Chess & Culture Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates last July 24, 2021.
The Filipinos occupied the top four positions and eight of the top 10 finishers in the seven-country face-to-face over the board chess tournament using the time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment that feature 31 players.
International Master Oliver Dimakiling defeated Woman Grandmaster Mahri Geldiyeva of Turkmenistan in the ninth and final round to clinch the title. Dimakiling tallied 8.5 points in nine outings. John Vincent Cayaba came second with 7 points.
Arena Grandmaster Dandel Fernandez, Nelman Lagutin and Kush Devnani of India were tied with 6.5 points, but Fernandez claimed the third place honors by virtue of a superior tiebreak output of 47.5 points applying the Bucholz system. Lagutin got only 45 points, followed by Devnani with 43.5 tiebreak points.
“We are very happy about the results of the seven-country face-to-face over the board chess tournament using the time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment that feature 31 players because eight of the top 10 finishers are Filipino,” said Arena Grandmaster Dandel Fernandez, the pride of Novelty Chess Club of sportsman Sonsea Agonoy who is fresh from a tie for 3rd to 5th place in the just ended Executive Division of the 4th Annual National Chooks To Go Rapid Chess Championships.
Rounding up to the top 10 are sixth John-John Mendoza (6 pts.), seventh Abdulla Murad of UAE (6 pts.), eight Rocky Pabalan, ninth Winnie Felix (5 pts.) and tenth Francis Erwin Dimarucut (5 pts.).
Final Standings:
8.5 points—IM Oliver Dimakiling (Philippines)
7 points—John Vincent Cayaba (Philippines)
6.5 points—AGM Dandel Fernandez (Philippines), Nelman Lagutin (Philippines), Kush Devnani (India)
6 points— John-John Mendoza (Philippines), Abdulla Murad (UAE), Rocky Pabalan (Philippines)
5 points— Winnie Felix (Philippines), Francis Erwin Dimarucut (Philippines), Marvin Marcos (Philippines), WGM Mahri Geldiyeva (Turkmenistan), Omer Sulaiman Moosa (New Zealand), Ahmed Ramadan Ashraf (Egypt), Danilo Reyes (Philippines), Glenn Salvado (Philippines)