2019 Philippine Junior Championship
Alphaland, Makati City
June 1-5, 2019
Final Top Standings
1-2. Jeth Romy Morado 2219, Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano 2185, 7.5/9
3. IM Daniel Quizon 2338, 7.0/9
4-9. IM John Marvin Miciano 2345, CM John Merill Jacutina 2333, Johann Cedrick Gaddi 2038, Jayson Danday 2014, Romulo Curioso 2016, FM Alekhine Nouri 2011, 6.5/9
10-21. Christian Mark Daluz 1815, Mark Jay Bocojo 1759, Earl Rhay Mantilla 1883, Darry Bernardo 2038, Jasper Faeldonia 1771, Michael Concio Jr 2101, Gal Brien Palasigue 1766, Melito Ocsan Jr. 2120, Julius Gonzales 1749, Jan Daryl Batula 2130, Neil Richmond Miranda 1743, Mark Gerald Reyes 1989, 6.0/9
No. of Participants: 116
Time Control: 90 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move from move 1
Jeth Romy Morado and Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano, both Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, tied for first in the 2019 Philippine Junior Championship. Morado was declared the winner on tie-breaks but both players were awarded the National Master title.
Morado is on a roll. If you will recall he won the Shell National Youth Champion (rapid chess) in 2017, the final year of the competition as Shell ended its sponsorship after 25 years. In 2018 he played board 2 in the powerhouse FEU chess team which dominated the 2018-2019 NCAA chess competition. In addition to the team gold he also got an individual gold medal for his 11/14 (nine wins, four draws, one loss) performance on board 2 and was also adjudged UAAP Rookie of the Year. And now he is the Philippine Junior (Under-20) Champion, and the newest National Master of the country. Not that he needed that title since he is an International Master (IM)-elect, having already achieved the required norm performances and is just waiting for the official title to be conferred upon him by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Jeth is a tactical monster as you will see in the following game.
Jacutina, John — Morado, Jeth [B10]
2019 National Junior Chess Championship (6.1)
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bd6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 0–0 7.0–0 Qc7 8.b3 a5 9.a4 Na6 10.Bb2 Re8 11.Re1 Nb4 12.h3 dxe4 13.dxe4 b5 14.Bf1 Bd7 15.axb5 cxb5 16.c4?! <D>
POSITION AFTER 16.C4
Jacutina is so wrapped up in his plans that he forgets to check for Black threats. The correct move here is 16.Ba3 and now if Black takes the c2 pawn then 16…Qxc2 17.Qxc2 Nxc2 18.Bxd6 and White is winning the e5 pawn after which his position would be clearly superior.
16…Bc5! 17.Rc1
The b5–pawn is immune to capture because of 17.cxb5 Qa7 18.Qe2 Nc2.
17…Nh5 18.Kg2 Bxh3+! 19.Kxh3 Bxf2 20.Nh4
He cannot save the exchange. 20.Re2 Bxg3 21.Kg2 Nd3 22.cxb5 Qd7 23.Re3 Nf2! with …Qd7–h3–h1 checkmate coming up.
20…Nxg3 21.Kg2 Bxe1 22.Qxe1 Nxf1 23.Qxf1 Qd7 24.Ndf3 Nd3 25.Rc2
Pinning the d3–knight with 25.Rd1 gives us more or less the same position as in the game after 25…Qg4+ 26.Kh1 Nxb2 27.Rd2 bxc4 28.Rxb2 Qxe4 29.bxc4.
25…bxc4 26.bxc4 Qg4+ 27.Kh1 Nxb2 28.Rxb2 Qxe4 29.Rg2 a4 30.Qf2 a3 31.Qa2 Reb8 32.Kh2 Rb1 33.Rf2 Ra6 34.c5 Rh6
Threat is 35…Rxh4+ 36.Nxh4 Rh1+ 37.Kg3 Qxh4+ 18.Kf3 Rh3+ with mate to follow.
35.Kh3 Rh1+ 36.Rh2 Qxf3# 0–1
A convincing win over John Merill Jacutina, another teammate from the standout FEU UAAP chess team and the third highest rated player in the tournament
Rhenzi, a veteran of Asian Youth tournaments, had a bad start. He was upset by Jethro Aquino (50th seed!) in round 3 but gathered himself and stormed back with six consecutive wins to finish neck-to-neck with his FEU teammate. Among his victims was the erstwhile tournament leader IM Daniel Quizon (all of 15 years old) who fell in the last round and was relegated to solo 3rd place.
Sevillano, Rhenzi — Quizon, Daniel [B41]
2019 National Junior Chess Championship (9.1)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.Be3 Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.f4 Qc7 11.Rc1 b6 12.Bf3 Bb7 13.g4 Nc5 14.Qc2 Rac8 15.g5 Ne8 16.h4 Qd8 17.b4 Nd7 18.Qb3 Nc7 19.Rfd1 Kh8 20.Bg4 Ba8 21.Rc2 b5 22.cxb5 axb5 23.Rdc1
Can White win a pawn? Let’s see: 23.Ndxb5 Nxb5 24.Nxb5 If Black takes the e4–pawn then White has a counter against d6. 24…Bxe4 25.Rxc8 Qxc8 26.Nxd6 Bxd6 27.Rxd6 Qc7 28.Rd1 (Now 28.Qd1 Black has a counter: 28…Bd5 29.Ra6 Qc4 30.Ra7 Qe4) 28…Ba8 Yes, White wins a pawn but Black gets some counterplay down the long diagonal.
23…Nb6 24.Nc6!? Bxc6 25.Bxb6 Qd7 26.Nd5 Nxd5 27.exd5 Ba8 28.Bc7
With the idea of 29.dxe6 fxe6 30.Bxe6.
28…Qe8 29.dxe6 f6 30.Qe3 fxg5 31.hxg5 Qg6 32.Rh2 Bd5 33.Rd1 Bxe6 34.Qxe6 Qxe6 35.Bxe6 Rxc7 36.g6 h6 37.Bf7
White will win the b5 and d6 pawns once he gets his rooks and king into position. Black has to get some counterplay fast.
37…d5
For example if Black just moves his rooks back and forth White will move up the board: 37…Rb7 38.Re2 Rd7 39.Rd5 Rb7 40.Kg2 Rd8 41.Kf3 Rdb8 42.Rf5 Rc7 43.Kg4 Rcb7 44.Bd5 Rd7 45.Rf7 Re8 etc.
38.Rxd5 Bxb4 39.Rxb5 Bd6 40.Rf5 Rc1+ 41.Kg2 Rd8 42.Kf3 Rc3+ 43.Kg4 Be7 44.Re2 Bf6 45.Rd5 Ra8 46.a4 Rcc8 47.a5 Rc7 48.a6 Rca7 49.Rd6 Rf8 50.Kf5 Raa8 51.Ree6 Ba1 52.Rd7 Bf6 53.Rb6
[53.Rxf6 gxf6 54.Be6! with the deadly threat of Rh7 mate. Black has no good defense to that]
53…Bd8 54.Rc6 Bf6 55.a7 Bh4 56.Ra6 Bf2 57.Kg4 Be3 58.f5 h5+ 59.Kxh5 Rfc8 60.Rb7 Rd8 61.Bd5 Bd4 62.Kg4 Re8 63.Rb3 1–0
Despite the loss IM Daniel Quizon maintained his reputation as the most promising up-and-comer in the Philippine chess scene, The son of a motorcycle mechanic from Dasmariñas, Cavite, he is the reigning East Asian Junior champion (that is where he got his IM title) and already has one GM norm (you need three to get the GM title). He also inflicted the only defeat on Morado here.
Quizon, Daniel — Morado, Jeth [B18]
2019 National Junior Chess Championship (8.1)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 e6 7.Bd3 Nf6 8.0–0 Nbd7 9.c4 Be7 10.b3 0–0 11.Bb2 Qc7 12.Bxg6 hxg6 13.Re1 Rad8 14.Qc2 Rfe8 15.Rad1 Bd6 16.Bc3 Ng4 17.Qb2 Bf8 18.Ne4 Ndf6 19.Neg5 Nh7 20.Ne4 Nhf6 21.Neg5 Nh7 22.Nxh7 Kxh7 23.h3 Nf6 24.d5 exd5 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Qxf6 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Kg8 28.h4 dxc4 29.bxc4 Qd6 30.Qg5 Bg7 31.h5 Bf6 32.Qg4 Qd7 33.Qg3 Qd6 34.Qh3 Qd3 35.hxg6 Qxg6 36.g3 b5 37.Ne5 Bxe5 38.Rxe5 Kg7 39.Qh4 Qd6?
Black needs to get counterplay against the White king: 39…Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Qd3 41.Rg5+ Kf8 42.Qh8+ Ke7 43.Re5+ Kd7 the threat of …Qf1+ drawing the white king out gives black some chances.
40.Rh5 Qd4 41.Qg5+ Kf8 42.Rh4 Qa1+ 43.Kg2 Rd6 44.cxb5 cxb5 45.Qc5 Qf6 46.Qxa7 Qf5 47.Qa8+ Ke7 48.Re4+ Re6 49.Rf4 Qh5 50.Rd4 Kf6 51.Qd8+ Kg6 52.Rh4 Qe5 53.Rg4+ Kh6 54.Qf8+ Kh5 55.Rh4+ Kg6 1–0
Black resigns because of 55…Kg6 56.Rh6+ Kf5 57.Qxf7+ Rf6 58.Rh5+ etc.
The 14-year-old, a sixth grader from San Miguel Elementary School in Dasmariñas City, makes no secret of his objectives: “I have no other dream but to become a super Grandmaster someday.”
IM John Marvin Miciano was the heavy favorite to win the Junior chess title. And why not? He is the Asian Under-18 Champion and part of the FEU stable of unending chess talents, the closest thing we have in the Philippines to a national school of chess. This is perhaps the biggest achievement of GM Jayson Gonzales (well, not counting his GM title, of course) as he single-handedly built up the FEU chess program into the strongest in the country. And I am not exaggerating. I should also mention the great support he is getting from the FEU administration, starting from its Chairman, Mr. Aurelio Montinola.
Miciano won his first four games but then lost of eventual champion Jeth Morado and he his momentum was gone.
Miciano, John — Palasigue, Gal Brien [E63]
2019 National Junior Chess Championship (6.2)
Gal Brien Palasigue is a blitz specialist who plays for San Beda in the NCAA. He was part of Team Philippines which represented the country in the Asian Schools Championship in 2017.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 a6 8.b3 Rb8 9.d5 Na5 10.Bg5 b5 11.cxb5 axb5 12.b4 Nc4 13.Qc1 Bd7 14.Rd1 Ng4 15.h3 h6 16.Bf4 g5
What else? 16…Nf6 17.Bxh6 just loses a pawn.
17.Bxg5 hxg5 18.hxg4 Bxc3?
He should not have exchanged off his vital g7–bishop. Better is 18…e6.
19.Qxc3 f6 20.Nd4 Ne5 21.Be4 Qc8 22.f3 Kf7 23.Kg2 Rh8 24.Rh1 Qb7 25.a3!
Small nuances like this are typical of IM Miciano. The plan is that, if all else fails, he can exchange off all the pieces and then win the endgame with his queenside pawns.
25…Qa7 26.Bc2 Qb6 27.Qe3 Rbg8 28.Bh7 Rg7 29.Bf5 Rxh1 30.Rxh1 Bxf5 31.Nxf5 Qxe3 32.Nxe3
White wants to play Nf5, Rg8, Rh7+ and then Rxe7.
32…Ke8 33.Rh8+ Kd7 34.Nf5 Rf7 35.Nd4
And now he intends Nd4–e6 followed by Rd8 mate.
35…Nc4 36.e4 Nxa3 37.Ne6 1–0
He may not be the Philippine Junior Champion, but don’t worry too much about John Miciano. He is only 19 years of age, already an International Master, and still has another year to campaign in the junior ranks. I expect to see the medals and trophies pour in before he is done.
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
