Pangasinense wins int’l chess fest
LINGAYEN—Pangasinenses have reason to be jubilant as 2012 unfolds with the victory of a homegrown young chess athlete who bagged a gold medal in the Singapore International Chess Festival last January 1.
Dennis Guttierez III, a native of San Fabian town and a product of the provincial government’s chess clinic series and a regular participant of the Governor Amado T. Espino’s (GATE) Cup Chess Tournament, notched the top post after beating Jiddan Firman of Indonesia in the finals of the open under-8 category.
Gov. Espino congratulated the 8-year old chesser as he thanked him for bringing honor to Pangasinan and to the country.
Espino, who fully supports chess in the province, has directed the provincial government to thus regular chess clinics and tournaments as an integral part of the program on youth and sports development.
It will be recalled that Pangasinan chessers, regular participants of GATE chess tournaments like Dennis Gutierrez, saw the participation of FIDE Master Haridas Pascua, FIDE master Cherry Ann Mejia, Samantha Glo Revita, Giovanni Mejia, Gutierrez siblings Dennis Jr. and Dennis III, Jodilyn Fronda, Prince Mark Aquino and Rowene Wyse Palaming.
Eight-year-old Dennis III figured prominently in the field of chess after pocketing several awards that included 1st place in the ASEAN-BLITZ category, 2nd in the ASEAN Age Group Chess Championships (Individual), 3rd in the ASEAN Age Group Chess Championship, 12th in the AFPI National Rapid Chess Championships (Kiddies Division), 5th in the ASEAN VS. China, 4th and 2nd in the Asian Youth Chess Championship/Individual Silver Medalist.
Overwhelmed by the achievements of the young Pangasinan woodpushers, Gov. Espino vowed to further improve the present administration’s program on sports in its aim to transform the province as the “Chess Capital of the North.”
The governor further assured continued support not just in field of chess but also in other sports endeavors where homegrown athletes can show their intellectual prowess, physical vigor and Pangasinense’s winning attitude.
Dennis III was among the four Philippine chessers who bagged gold in the Singapore tournament. The other gold medalists were Michelle Yaonin the girls’ Under-17 division, Vince Angelo Medina in the Open Under-17, FIDE Master Paulo Bersamina in the Open Under-14 category.
Other Philippine woodpushers who brought home silver and bronze medals during the Singapore chess joust are as follows: Jerad Docena of Bohol (silver); Marc Christian Nazario (Open U-17), Julius Gonzales (OpenU-11), Fiona Geeweneth Guirhem (Girls U-11) and Mae Ann Joy Baclayon (GirlsU-8), all bronze medalists. (PIO/R. Bernardino)
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