by Marlon Bernardino
A Filipino Saudi based is making waves in the field of chess as he makes a name for himself in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1997 Philippine Junior Champion National Master Elwin Herbias Retanal scored 10 points in eleven rounds to cop first place in the just concluded Saudi Riyadh International Rapid Chess Championship dubbed as Al Riyadh Open INT chess tournament 2013 held last June 27 to 28 at the Saladin Hotel in Al Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The 84th seed Saudi based Retanal registered a performance rating of 2350. His crucial wins against top seed IM Mohamed Tissir (2422) of Morocco in the sixth round but conceded his only loss in the next round against 9th seed Gaafar Hassan of Egypt.
Overall, his victories over three other Fide Masters from Bahrain and Jordan clearly put him at the top, half a point ahead over IM Tissir with 9.5 points.
Retanal currently works at Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University in KSA. Born and raised in Minglanilla, Cebu City but found a new home in Sitio Talisay, Barangay Mana, Malita, Davao del Sur.
Five other Filipino campaigners registered remarkable outings and placed inside the top twenty one. Alvin Alcala, (4th place/8.0 points), Aldrin Gallardo (10th place/7.5 points), Anatoly Guaniezo (12th place/7.5 points), Noli Delloro (17th place/7.0 points) and Drigo Teves (21st place/7.0 points)
National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) chairman/president Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. was elated Retanal's big win in the Saudi Riyadh International Rapid Chess Championship in the event was organized by Saudi Chess Association in cooperation with Qatar Chess Federation and NGiT.
"Once again Filipino woodpusher proved that we can shine in chess and that's what Elwin (Retanal) did, iI hope that we should give chess more attention in our country so that we can produce more champions in abroad." said Pichay, also the deputy president of ASEAN Chess Federation.
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