Philippines, 18 Sep 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


Yolanda survivor NM Engr. Mario Lawsin Rebano rules 2024 World Open U-2000 chess tilt; pockets USD 12,000


PhilBoxing.com


Manila---Mario Lawsin Rebano reigned supreme in the 2024 World Open U-2000 chess championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania July 7.

“I offer this victory to my fellow Filipinos, especially the people of Tacloban City (Leyte’s highly urbanized city) and all victims of calamities like me,” beamed the 57-year-old chess champion, in an interview of US based sports writer and columnist Alex Vidal who bested 226 players in the category for chessers rated 2000 and below.

This is the his biggest-ever achievement of Rebano since campaigning in the United States after surviving the 2013 superstorm “Yolanda” in Leyte in the Philippines.

The Filipino civil engineer, who left Brgy. Sagkahan 63 in Tacloban to live in New York, started hot in the 9-round Swiss System tournament that offered a top prize of $12,000 (Philippine Peso 705,000) by romping off with six points in the first six rounds.

Rebano (1967 US rating) played Caro-Kann Defense and was slowed down with a draw in Round 7 against Russia’s Stephan Kalinichev (1864 US rating) but hiked his output to 6.5 points entering the crucial last two rounds.

“I sensed Kalinichev was having a running nose and had a difficulty swapping bombs with my Caro-Kann repertoire, but I didn’t want to put him away because I thought I was safe with two rounds left in the tournament, thus I agreed for a draw,” Rebano recalled.

In the 8th round, Rebano was pitted against highly regarded fellow Filipino Jan Vincent Paragua (1960 US rating), head coach of the US representative on the FIDE World Cadets Chess Tournament, whom he blasted in Pirc Defense for another full point to vault on top with 7.5 points entering the 9th and last round.

Paragua, brother of Filipino Grand Master and Olympian Mark, incurred his lone defeat and settled for solo 6th place.
In the last round, Rebano, a national master (NM) in the Philippines, employed another Caro-Kann Defense Panov variation, but could not nail the win against the dangerous Russian Dimitry Gorelik (1897 US rating) and settled for draw.

“I trained hard and played with young chess players in Queens trained by Michael Ocedo (a Filipino chess trainer). Two weeks before the World Open, I stopped playing and just relaxed,” disclosed the undefeated Rebano, who walked away with 8 points to annex the U-2000 title in the tournament held from June 26 to July 7, 2024.

In a heartbreaking development, what could have been a double celebration for the 2024 World Open chess Philippine contingent turned into nightmare for Vincent Umayan (2170 US rating), a United States Chess Federation (USCF) master from Davao, lost his last match in the Under-2200 category to finish solo 5th place with 7 points.

Like Rebano, Umayan was undefeated entering the last round and needed only a draw to pocket the Under-2200 championship.

"It was a heartbreaking loss for Umayan because his opponent (Kamran Rawshani, 2176 US rating) was two pieces down but managed to promote his pawn into queen,” narrated Rebano, who described the match as “tension-filed and thrilling.”

Umayan scorched six opponents and drew two matches good for $750 cash before succumbing to Rawshani, who bankrolled the $12,000 top prize.-Marlon Bernardino-


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 15 SEPTEMBER 2025: Crawford Snatches Canelo's Undisputed Crown at 168 Lbs; Inoue Defeats Akhmadliev to Retain 4 Superbantam Belts; Crocker Outpoints Donovan
    By Eric Armit, , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • TICKET NEWS: EUBANK JR-BENN II ON SALE FROM THIS WEDNESDAY
    , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • “Night of Champions” Returns to Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando on September 19
    , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • Canelo-Crawford: The Consolidation of Boxing’s New Commercial Empire
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • A New Era for Boxing: Canelo vs. Crawford Shatters Global Viewership Records on Netflix
    By Dong Secuya, , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • Crawford Not the First Lightweight to Distinguish Himself at Super Middleweight
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • Kurt Scoby and Josh Popper Headline Boxing Insider Card September 19 in Times Square
    , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • Green and Gold 2025: Amateur Boxing’s International Gathering in Bolivia
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Wed, 17 Sep 2025
  • Pakistan's Sameer Khan Set to Battle for UBO Youth World Title in Brico Santig’s Sep 27 Show in Thailand
    By Carlos Costa, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • SAMBO Pilipinas is Southern NSA of the Year 2025
    By Lito delos Reyes, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh To headline historic “Legacy Nights” Inaugural Pro Boxing event in El Salvador
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Smarts over power
    By Joaquin Henson, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
    By Maloney L. Samaco, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
    By Dong Secuya, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • 21-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
    By Carlos Costa, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.