NATIONAL master (NM) Alex Lupian of Davao City added another feather on his cap by winning a gold medal and a silver in the rapid of the 19th Asean+ Age-Group Chess Championships at The Royal Mandaya Hotel Wednesday, June 27.
Lupian scored a total of 5.5 points after seven rounds to place second in the seniors 50-65 event, just half-point behind gold medalist Fide master (FM) Adrian Pacis who finished with six points. Five-pointer Edmundo Gatus was third.
Pacis, Lupian and Gatus also joined efforts to capture the team gold over Vietnam (12.5) and Singapore (10.5).
Lupian earlier clinched the standard individual and team golds.
Meanwhile, Irish Yngayo of the University of Mindanao (UM) earned a Women Candidate Master (WCM) title after winning a bronze medal in the standard event.
The 15-year-old Yngayo placed third in girls 16 event of the nine-round Swiss System Format competition after tallying 6.5 points.
In an interview with VoxPop Davao Wednesday, Yngayo thanked lawyer Jong Guevarra for subsidizing her registration. The latter also competed in the seniors' event.
"Happy and thankful kaayo ko. Dili man gyud unta ko makadula kay wala ko nakaqualify sa Mindanao leg pero gitabangan ko ni attorney Jong na makadula. Iyahang gihatag sa akoa ang slot na para unta sa iyahang anak mao naningkamot jud ko ug maayo para mabalusan nako tanan nag tabang sa akoa (I am thankful and happy that I was able to play despite not having qualified in the Mindanao leg but Atty. Jong helped me by giving the slot of his daughter to me. I just did my best to compensate for that)," she said.
Yngayo first earned the WCM around seven years ago when she was then playing in the girls eight years old division. But the title was totally forfeited when she constantly failed in joining international competitions which is basically a prerequisite for keeping the WCM title.
