Cebuano Retanal rules Saudi rapid chess meet
A Saudi-based Cebuano is currently making waves in the field of chess there by topping a tough tournament in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1997 Philippine Juniors Open champion National Master Elwin Herbias Retanal scored 10 points in 11 rounds to cop first place in the 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. He scored his most crucial win when he stunned tournament top seed IM Mohamed Tissir (2422) of Morocco in the sixth round.
Overall, his victories over three other Fide Masters from Bahrain and Jordan put him in solo first place, half a point ahead over IM Tissir who tallied 9.5 points.
Retanal currently works at Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University in KSA. He was born and raised in Minglanilla, Cebu but found a new home in Sitio Talisay, Barangay Mana, Malita, Davao del Sur.
For his title win, Retanal received 5,000 Saudi riyals and a trophy while second placer IM Tissir Mohamed of Morocco pocketed 3,000 Saudi riyals. FM Ayyad Hussain of Bahrain who finished third got 2,000 Saudi riyals.
Five other Filipino campaigners also registered remarkable performances by placing inside the top 21 including 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).
The Saudi Riyadh International Rapid Chess Championship was organized by Saudi Chess Association in cooperation with Qatar Chess Federation and NGiT.
Aside from Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, other countries which has representatives in the tournament include Syria, Jordan, Bahrain, India, Lebanon, Canada, Sudan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Morocco, Yemen, Pakistan and Mauritania.
