“I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player's personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.”
—Vladimir Kramnik
By Alex P. Vidal
IN what could be his biggest-ever achievement since campaigning in the United States after surviving the 2013 superstorm “Yolanda” in Leyte in the Philippines, Mario Lawsin Rebano chalked up a kingsized victory by being crowned the 2024 World Open U-2000 chess champion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania July 7.
“I offer this victory to my fellow Filipinos, especially the people of Tacloban City (Leyte’s highly urbanized city) and all victims of calamities like me,” beamed the 57-year-old chess champion, who bested 226 players in the category for chessers rated 2000 and below.
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| FILIPINO WORLD CHAMPION National Master Mario Lawsin Rebano |
The Filipino civil engineer, who left Brgy. Sagkahan 63 in Tacloban to live in New York, started hot in the 9-round Swiss System tournament that offered a top prize of $12,000 (Philippine Peso 705,000) by romping off with six points in the first six rounds.
Rebano (1967 US rating) played Caro-Kann Defense and was slowed down with a draw in Round 7 against Russia’s Stephan Kalinichev (1864 US rating) but hiked his output to 6.5 points entering the crucial last two rounds.
RUNNING NOSE
“I sensed Kalinichev was having a running nose and had a difficulty swapping bombs with my Caro-Kann repertoire, but I didn’t want to put him away because I thought I was safe with two rounds left in the tournament, thus I agreed for a draw,” Rebano recalled.
In 8th round, Rebano was pitted against highly regarded fellow Filipino Jan Vincent Paragua (1960 US rating), head coach of the US representative on the FIDE World Cadets Chess Tournament, whom he blasted in Pirc Defense for another full point to vault on top with 7.5 points entering the 9th and last round.
Paragua, brother of Filipino Grand Master and Olympian Mark, incurred his lone defeat and settled for solo 6th place.
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| REBANO (right) and the author. |
In the last round, Rebano, a national master (NM) in the Philippines, employed another Caro-Kann Defense Panov variation, but could not nail the win against the dangerous Russian Dimitry Gorelik (1897 US rating) and settled for draw.
“I trained hard and played with young chess players in Queens trained by Michael Ocedo (a Filipino chess trainer). Two weeks before the World Open, I stopped playing and just relaxed,” disclosed the undefeated Rebano, who walked away with 8 points to annex the U-2000 title in the tournament held from June 26 to July 7, 2024.
‘NIGHTMARE’
In a heartbreaking development, what could have been a double celebration for the 2024 World Open chess Philippine contingent turned into nightmare for Vincent Umayan (2170 US rating), a United States Chess Federation (USCF) master from Davao, who lost his last match in the Under-2200 category to finish solo 5th place with 7 points.
Like Rebano, Umayan was undefeated entering the last round and needed only a draw to pocket the Under-2200 championship.
“It was a heartbreaking loss for Umayan because his opponent (Kamran Rawshani, 2176 US rating) was two pieces down but managed to promote his pawn into queen,” narrated Rebano, who described the match as “tension-filed and thrilling.”
Umayan scorched six opponents and drew two matches good for $750 cash before succumbing to Rawshani, who bankrolled the $12,000 top prize.
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