TWO-TIME Olympiad campaigner International Master (IM) Chito Garma ended years of frustrations by finally winning a big one—the Ninth Asian Seniors Chess Championships—at the the Tagaytay International Convention Center in Tagaytay City on Sunday.
Garma, at 54 still looking fit as a fiddle, swept his last two matches against second seed Fide Master Oleg Rinas of Kazakhstan and Angelito Camer of Australia to finish a clear winner with 8.0 points on seven wins and two draws in the tournament organized by the Asian Chess Federation and hosted by the by the Tagaytay City government through Cavite Seventh District Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino Jr. and Tagaytay City Mayor Agnes Tolentino.
“I’m very happy to win again, especially in an international tournament like this Asian Seniors. Indeed an early Christmas gift for me,” said the Tondo-based Garma, who pocketed the top prize of $500 out of the total purse of $3,000.
Another veteran on the comeback trail, IM Petronio Roca, finished second to Garma with 6.5 points on five wins, three draws and one loss and earned $400.
Roca, one of only two players who held Garma to a draw, beat National Master (NM) Cesar Caturla in the eighth round but lost to Rinas in the final round.
Rinas and IM Angelo Young shared third to fourth places with six points, while NM Carlo Lorena wound up fifth with 5.5 points.
Last year’s champion, GM Eugene Torre, also hurdled his last to assignments against former national junior champion Stewart Manaog and Aitkazy Baimurzin of Kazakhstan to finish with 7.0 points.
Torre settled for the $350 prize for the over-65 category.
Caturla and fellow Olympian NM Rosendo Bandal finished second and third with 6.5 and 5.5 points, respectively, in the over-65 category.
Woman FM Helen Milligan of New Zealand emerged as the top female player for the fourth consecutive time with 4.0 points out of a possible 8.0. She edged Almagul Chakeyeva of Kazkahstan, who had 3.5, for the $100 top prize.
A far third overall was Olympian Mila Emperado in the weeklong competition also supported by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and Philippine Sports Commission that drew 34 players from nine countries.
Mike Lapitan served as the tournament director, while Patrick Lee was the supervising arbiter, along with Elias Lao, Lito Abril and Hubert Estrella.