GRANDMASTER Master (GM) Julio Catalinno Sadorra reinforced his position as one of the Philippines? top chess players when he ruled the 10th Annual Chesapeake Open Chess Championships on Tuesday held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland.
Sadorra defeated Indian Jeevan Karamsetty in the final round to finish undefeated with 6.5 points in seven outings to bag the top prize worth US$2,000.
GM Alexander Fishbein of the United States and IM Praveen Balakrishnan of India, both tallied 5.5 points each and shared 2nd to 3rd places.
With this latest feat, Sadorra successfully defends his crown. In the last year's edition, Sadorra and another Filipino GM entry Mark Paragua finished in a two-way tie for first place with six wins after seven games of play.
In the Under 2000 section, Jelvis Arandela Calvelo made the country proud anew by finishing 2nd overall.
The 38 year-old Toronto, Canada based Calvelo, who work as Aircraft Winder and technician at the Canada International Aviation Inc., beat Russian Konstan Molodtsov in the 7th and final round to finish 5.5 points on 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.
?I would like to dedicate my victory to my countrymen. It?s an honor to represent our country,? said the Dasmarinas, Cavite native Calvelo.
Xianglong Chen of China won the Under 2000 section with a perfect 7.0 points.
Calvelo, a former chess coach at the DLSU, PCU and Emilio Aguinaldo College, Dasmarinas branch in Cavite is also schedule to compete in the 2018 Cleveland, Ohio Open Chess Championships on January 26-27.
Philippine Executive Chess Association (PECA) founding president Atty. Cliburn Anthony A. Orbe lauded Sadorra and Calvelo impressive showing at the start of 2018. " They make our country proud."said Atty. Orbe, also the Vice President of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under the leadership of it's chairman/president Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr.
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