Abris leads National Juniors chessfest after fifth round

CEDRIC KAHLEL ABRIS gained the upper hand after pulling the rug from under Phil Martin Casiguran in the fifth round of the Philippine National Juniors Chess Championships at the Philippine Chess Academy for Excellence over the weekend.

Thanks to the win, the 17-year-old De La Salle-Greenhills 12^th grader bumped Mr. Casiguran, the fourth-round solo leader, from the pedestal while assuming the post himself with 4.5 points.

Mr. Casiguran dropped to No. 2 along with fellow four-pointers FIDE Master Mark Jay Bacojo and Mar Aviel Carredo in this eight-round meet bankrolled by the NCFP and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Mr. Abris, a former ASEAN rapid gold winner who recently copped four golds in last month’s Batang Pinoy in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, is on course of claiming the title for Under-20 players, the top purse worth P20,000 and the spot to next year’s World Juniors in Petrovac, Montenegro.

In the juniors’ girls’ class, Lexie Grace Hernandez bested Karol Jozef de Guia to catch up on the latter at the helm with four points each.

In hot pursuit of the co-leaders were a four-player group of 3.5-pointers composed of reigning national women’s champion and Olympiad veteran Ruelle Canino, Kayla Lorraine Aurelio, Jersey Marticio and Daren dela Cruz. — Joey Villar