Dubai: Julius Joseph De Ramos swiftly recovered from an improbable first-round debacle to win all his remaining matches and claim the championship in the premier Open division of the Filipino Chess Players League (FCPL) Christmas Chess Championships.
The top-seeded Fide Master (FM) employed the Maróczy Bind variation in dispatching the Sicilian defence of erstwhile solo-leader Dennis San Juan in the final round to complete a rousing comeback at Reef Mall in Dubai over the weekend.
Both players finished with six points from seven games, but De Ramos was awarded the championship because of a superior tiebreak.
Forfeiture
De Ramos, an Abu Dhabi-based engineer, was derailed in the first round when his phone rang while his game against Alvin Divinagracia was still in progress, resulting in an immediate forfeiturein favour of the latter, who was already under severe pressure when the incident happened.
Divinagracia dropped two of his remaining six games to finish with five points and settle for third place, while FM Antonio Molina Sr. and Francis Erwin Dimarucut settled for the fourth and fifth places.
Jason Orfano also had to rely on a superior tiebreak to top the FCPL Challengers Cup as he figured in a two-way tie with Joseph Ignacio with six points apiece after seven rounds. Orfano won five games, including his fifth-round encounter with Ignacio, and drew two to finish the tournament unbeaten.
Christopher Cruz secured third place with 5.5 points followed by Frank Alterado and Mac Roymon Cubela at fourth and fifth respectively.
Angelito Melicano led the category winners in the Open division after collaring the top senior award. Anusweud was top junior and Bharath Amrithraj was top kiddie.
Category winners
The category winners in the Challengers Cup were Meinardo Andres (Unrated), Gary Flores (Under-1700), Gerry Lababo (Under-1800), Rey Medez (Senior), Jared David Yap (Junior), Jediael Ernest Parsons Yap (Kiddie) and Anna Rebecca Tapiador (Lady).
International Arbiter Marz Marcial, the tournament chief arbiter, said more than 50 players took part in both tournaments, which offered various prizes to the winners, including an HDTV, tablets, digital chess clocks and chess sets.
Players from different nationalities competed in the Open division, while the Challengers Cup was exclusive to FCPL members with a Fide rating below 1950.
