by Marlon Bernardino
Final Standing:
(Open division, 7 round Swiss system)
6.0 points---IM Kevin Goh Wei Ming (Singapore), FM Ashvin Sivakumar (Singapore), AGM Roberto Suelo Jr. (Philippines)
5.5 points---FM Nelson "Elo" Mariano III (Philippines)
5.0 points---Tianle Deng (China), Joseph Navarro (Philippines), GM Darwin Laylo (Philippines), Edgar Reggie Olay (Philippines)
4.5 points---FM Andrean Susilodinata (Indonesia), FM Nelson Villanueva (Philippines)
(Youth Challengers, 7 round Swiss system)
6.5 points---Rahul Lakshminarasimhan (Singapore), Jayson Jacobo Tiburcio (Philippines)
6.0 points---Zi Yau Bernadette Kong (Singapore)
5.5 points---Raj Dhruv (Singapore), Yu Kai Ernest Long (Singapore), Qiao Wen Nicole Khor (Singapore)
Arena Grandmaster (AGM) Roberto Suelo Jr. of the Philippines settled for 3rd overall in the leong @64 Rapid Chess Challenge 2020 at the Ang Mo Kio Community Club in Singapore on Sunday, January 19, 2020.
The 1996 Philippine Junior champion Suelo tallied 6.0 points on 6 wins and 1 loss in 7 outings, but took 3rd after a lower tiebreak over eventual champion Grandmaster (GM) elect and International Master (IM) Kevin Goh Wei Ming of Singapore and 2nd place Fide Master (FM) Ashvin Sivakumar of Singapore.
After six straight wins, Suelo, failed to bring home the championship trophy after yielding to Kevin in the final round.
The triumvirate split the combined prize of 2,000 Singapore dollar (P78,000) for first to third placers.
The 1-day rapid event (25 minutes time control format) backed up by Filipino Jaime "Bong" Tiburcio is being held coincide the 64th birthday celebration of Fide Master (FM) Ignatius Leong. Tournament director is Mr. Philip Chan while Chief Arbiter is Gan Yeow Beng and assisted by Filipino arbiter Erwin Tabor.
In the Youth Challengers section, Jayson Jacobo Tiburcio of the Philippines beat Chen Meng Ren Morgan of Singapore in the seventh and final round to tie for the top spot with Rahul Lakshminarasimhan of Singapore with their identical 6.5 points. Based on the tournament's official ranking, Lakshminarasimhan became the meet's top finisher and after gaining a tiebreak score of 24.5 against Tiburcio's 24.0.-Marlon Bernardino-