Rocky Pabalan wins second title in Dubai chess tournament

Dubai: Despite being derailed in the first round by one of the tournament’s youngest participants, Rocky Pabalan kept his composure to claim his second straight title in the Filipino Chess Players League (FCPL)-UAE monthly chess competitions at Reef Mall in Dubai.

Pabalan closed out with four consecutive wins after being held to a draw by 11-year-old Indian standout Sasikumar Anusweud to rule the August FCPL Chess Tournament with 4.5 points.

He punctuated his comeback with a final-round victory over erstwhile solo-leader Mark Matutina, who was relegated to second place with four points.

Top-seed Francis Erwin Dimarucut also had four points after beating Anusweud in the final round, but settled for third place with an inferior tiebreak score.

Rayjan Solano and Joseph Galindo rounded out the top five players who received prizes and medals.

Special awards were also handed out to Ben Penaranda as top senior and Sanath Santhosh as top kiddie.

“With the world chess championships to be held in Chennai, India in November, chess has been gaining considerable attention in the region. We hope to contribute to the growing interest in chess by organising these monthly competitions that are open to all chess enthusiasts in the UAE,” said Ronnie Balilo, the FCPL-UAE secretary-general who handed out the awards.