Metropolitan Chess Club Updates I missed

Insurance man Erven Perlas downed Orlando Pascual in the fifth and final round to rule the January edition of MCC Executive Active chess tourney held over the weekend at the upper second floor of St. Francis Square behind SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City .

Perlas of BPI/MS Insurance Corp. finished with a total output of 4.5 points with four wins and one draw after five rounds to claim his second MCC executive title. After ruling the tourney, Perlas earned also the first of five qualifying slots to finals in the selection of the top two executives who will earn the right to join the Milo Checkmate team's campaign to US,

Following Perlas was Romeo Talavera of PNB who occupied the second spot via tiebreak with 4.0 points and took the next qualifying berth after beating garment supervisor Balden Corpuz.

The last two of the three contested slots were taken by Leo Ricaña, retired SMC executive and Manuel Morato of Manila City Hall who wound up also with 4.0 points apiece and placed third and fourth places respectively. Ricaña prevailed over lawyer Quirino Sagario while Morato outplayed businessman Ernesto Barro of Kalookan City.

Barro who ended up in fifth place with a final score of 3.5 points took the last qualifying slot. The next executive tourney will be held on Feb. 3 at the same venue and will serve as the last elimination leg where the top five winners will join the first five qualifiers in the finals set on Feb. 10-11. For other details, call 826-8560 and 0916-852-1069.

Youngsters Rommelle delos Santos of Angelicum College and Ruel Agbin of NU lead the early entries in the MCC Open Standard 90-minute chess tourney which kicks off at 12:30pm today, January 20, at the lower 3F of St. Francis Square behind SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City.

Open to all players- beginners, unrated, rated and titled, the two-day event will adopt the five round Swiss and time control of 90 minutes per player.

The top five winners will receive cash prizes with the champion getting the top purse of P3,000. Likewise, the top performer in the unrated, kiddies and ladies categories, will be given special prize of P500 each.

Interested parties are advised to register at least thirty minutes before the games start. For details, call MCC at 826-8560 and 0916-852-1069. Meanwhile the kiddies (14 & Under) standard chessfest is set on Jan. 27-28 at the same venue and time.