7-yr-old is PH’s youngest Fide master

MANILA—A seven-year-old incoming Grade 1 pupil is the country’s newest and youngest Fide chess master.

Alekhine Nouri of Taguig City achieved the historic feat by virtue of his excellent showing in the recent 14th ASEAN + Age Group Chess Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Nouri, whose first name is derived from the surname of one of the greatest chess players in history – Alexander Alekhine – defeated Nguyen Hoang Hiep of Vietnam in the eighth round and Luvsandorj Orgilbold of Mongolia in the final round to finish with 8.0 points good for the gold in the Open 8-under category.

Like Nouri, Allaney Jia G. Doroy of Agusan del Norte, Samantha Glo Revita of Rosales, Pangasinan and Shania Mae Mendoza of Sta. Rosa, Laguna also earned outright Woman Fide Master (WFM) titles.

Doroy shared the gold medal with two others after scoring 6.5 points in the Girls 12-under class while Revita tallied 7.0 points to share the gold with Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Minh Thu in the Girls 14-under class.

Mendoza meanwhile, tallied 6.0 points to share the gold with two others in the Girls 16-under class.

The week-long tournament drew 389 players from the Philippines, Russia, India, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Hongkong, Singapore, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Iran, Mongolia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and host Thailand.

The country’s campaign in the tournament is supported by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).