ALWAYS in the shadow of the big guns, the Persian Knight’s star finally shone in the first ever TambaNipa Festival chess tournament on Monday, September 2 in Barangay Bonbon, Cagayan de Oro City.
The journeyman Basilio Pandan Jr, known for his masterful handling of the Knight pieces, played through undefeated in the eight-round Swiss System rapid chess tourney to bag the P3,000 top purse.
In doing so, the underdog Pandan mowed down the top-seeded bets one after the other in the final half of the day-long chessfest officiated by computer expert Arian Belly ‘Arbz’ Calido, using the Sophia rules that values a win to three points and a draw to one point only.
Pandan’s first big catch was in the fourth round against the best Misamis Occidental player Rodney Opada, who earned P60,000 in the last Ozamiz chess competition.
He followed it up with an upset victory against the title favorite Fide Master Ellan Asuela, who is best remembered for winning an International event twice in Singapore.
In the sixth round, Pandan waylaid former National Shell Active junior champion Bryan Jose then outwitted another Bukidnon hopeful Randolph Christopher Dalauta before upstaging erstwhile Palarong Pambansa gold medalist and National Shell Active kiddies titlist Lennon Hart Salgados of the Philippine Air Force in the eight and final round.
“Medyo na grasyahan lang kay gikan ‘mi Zamboanga nag mission sa church. Gituman sab nako ang chess tip ni former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik to always study the style of your opponent,” Pandan, who garnered a perfect 24 Sophia points, told Gold Star Daily.
FM Asuela, with 21 points to show, claimed the runner-up prize of P2,000; while Bobby Salomon (18 pts), Jeff Russell Rivera (17 pts), and Salgados (16 pts) completed the top five to receive P1,500, P1,000 and P500 each also with medals.
Rounding up the top 10 are Ozamiz boy Johnny Wellem Carzano, Jose, Cagayan de Oro legend Mario Arroyo, Jashfer Gonzales, and Opada.