Press Release

The Luzon legs of the 14th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships concluded on August 5 and 6, 2006 at the sole Southern Luzon Leg in Batangas City which gathered 372 chess players, the highest recorded attendance of the leg, from the different parts of Luzon, as far as Bulacan in the Central Luzon area and Naga City from the Bicolandia.

Ochoa and Pesimo were hailed as champs in the junior and kiddies divisions respectively. The tourney was held in SM City Batangas Entertainment Plaza.

General Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery Rebecca Alivio in a handshake with Batangas City Administrator Philip Baroja witnessed by (from left to right) External Affairs Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery Jun Espina, Chief Arbiter Gene Poliarco, and Batangas City Executive Assistant for Youth and Sports Development Program Manolo Perlada.

Present to witness the opening of the event were Rebecca Alivio, General Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery, Philip Baroja, City Administrator - Batangas City, and Jun Espina, External Affairs Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery.

Representatives from Shellane Tanauan City Branch were also there to be part of the activity. Shellane LPG's mascot, Smarty, graced the first day of the tourney by handing out LPG product information materials to the parents of chess participants as well as to entertain the kids.

Batangas City Administrator Philip Baroja lauded Pilipinas Shell for bringing the chess tourney to the locale. He was also overwhelmed for having a total of 372 participants, which was very far from last year's attendance.

Winners of the juniors division with (from left to right) External Affairs Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery Jun Espina, Assistant Mall Manager - SM City Batangas Lawrence Calingasan IV, Batangas City Executive Assistant for Youth and Sports Development Program Manolo Perlada, and Pilipinas SHell Business and Corporate Communications Manager John Arnaldo.

Bulacan's bet Karl Victor Ochoa took the top position among the 157 players in the juniors division. He got an almost perfect score of 6.5 with 35 Bucholz points. Next to him were Gilly Jay Maximo of the Philippine Maritime Institute (first runner up) and Joseph Mercado of San Sebastian College - Manila (second runner up).

Winners of the kiddies division with (from left to right) Assistant Mall Manager - SM City Batangas Lawrence Calingasan IV, External Affairs Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery Jun Espina, Executive Assistant to the Governor of Batangas Dante Baronia,  Batangas City Executive Assistant for Youth and Sports Development Program Manolo Perlada, and Pilipinas Shell Business and Corporate Communications Manager John Arnaldo.

King Daniel Pesimo from Bicol was the champ among the 215 players in the kiddies division having a perfect score of 7 with 32.5 Bucholz points. Next to him were Joel Pimentel from La Salle Greenhills and Jan Nigel Galan from Lawang Bato Elementary School - Valenzuela City.

The champs along with their runners up got their sure seats in the finals slated on October 22-23 in SM North Edsa.

(Left photo) Mikee Charlene Suede receives the top female player award with (from left to right) External Affairs Manager of Shell Tabangao Refinery Jun Espina, Executive Assistant to the Governor of Batangas Dante Baronia, Batangas City Executive Assistant for Youth and Sports Development Program Manolo Perlada, and Pilipinas Shell Business and Corporate Communications Manager John Arnaldo.
(Right Photo) Lander Gabriel Fulcher, the youngest player awardee, makes a move against his opponent.

Mikee Charlene Suede grabbed the overall top female player award with a score of 6 points and 32.5 Bucholz points. She was also the fourth runner up in the kiddies division. Lander Gabriel Fulcher of La Immaculada Concepcion School was the youngest player of the tourney at 4 years and 1 month.

Batangueños grabbed the school most represented in both the juniors and kiddies division respectively. University of Batangas had the most number of players in the juniors division with 28 players while First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) in Tanauan City was the most represented in the kiddies division with 22 players.

Present during the awarding were Pilipinas Shell Business & Corporate Communications Manager John Arnaldo, Assistant Mall Manager - SM City Batangas Lawrence Calingasan IV, Shell Tabangao Refinery External Affairs Manager Jun Espina, Executive Assistant for Youth and Sports Development Program -Batangas City Manolo Perlada, and Executive Assistant to the Governor of Batangas Dante Baronia.

The sponsors of the 14th Shell National Youth Active Chess Champonship are Super Premium, Super Unleaded, Shell V Power, Shell Diesoline Ultra, Shell Diesoline Ultra, Shellane, McDonald's and Cebu Pacific. The staging of the annual Shell chess tourney is in cooperation with SM Supermalls and sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.

Visayas is the next destination for the tourney, with first stop at Cebu which is slated as the fifth leg of the 14th Shell National Youth Active Chess. It took place at SM City Cebu Entertainment Plaza on August 19-20, 2006. [Kay Eser]