Darwin Laylo wins Philippine Championship
The 2022/2023 Philippine National Chess Championship “Battle of Grandmasters” Grand Finals took place in the City of Malolos from February 1-7, 2023. The 10-player round-robin brought together three GMs, four IMs, one national master, one WGM and one WIM. Somewhat surprisingly, two out of three GMs participating found themselves at the bottom of the final standings. However, Darwin Laylo (pictured above) upheld the honour of the GM title and came out on top after scoring 6.5/9. The runner-up IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia (pictured below) finished just a half-point behind the champion. Both the winner and the runner-up completed the event unbeaten. IM Michael Concio netted 5.5 points and took bronze. WGM Janelle Mae Frayna (pictured below) and NM Mark Jay Bacojo, who tied for fifth place, turned in solid performance given their rating and picked up 32 and 49 rating points, respectively. Final standings: 1 GM Laylo, Darwin 2433 6½ 2 IM Garcia, Jan Emmanuel 2409 6 3 IM Concio, Michael 2380 5½ 4 IM Bersamina, Paulo 2427 5 5 WGM Frayna, Janelle Mae 2234 4½ 6 NM Bacojo, Mark Jay 2266 4½ 7 IM Quizon, Daniel 2397 4½ 8 GM Gomez, John Paul 2474 3½ 9 GM Antonio, Rogelio 2409 3½ 10 WIM San Diego, Marie 2157 1½ Photos: NCFP Facebook page