IVAN Travis Cu continued his meteoric rise as one of the country’s brightest young players by finishing fifth overall in the 15th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2023 held at the St Xavier’s Institution in Penang, Malaysia last Dec. 18-22.

Cu, who also made the country proud for his bronze medal finish in the 14-under category in the 2022 Asian Youth Chess Championships in Bali, Indonesia last October, finished with seven points on seven wins and two losses in the tough, nine-round tournament that attracted 98 players from 14 countries.

The 14-year-old pride of San Juan, whose campaign is supported by Go for Gold.PH and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), finished only half a point behind IM Oleg Badmatsyrenov of Russia, FM Yu Tian Po of Malaysia and top seed GM Novendra Priasmoro of Indonesia.

Cu and IM Aditya Bagus Arfan of Indonesia also finished in a tie with seven points, but the latter clinched fourth place due to higher Buchholz tiebreak score.

Cu, one of three Filipino players in the field, won over Martin Greenwood of England, Lim, Feng Wei Ferris Lim of Malaysia, Wei Yang Lim of Malaysia, IM Dede Lioe of Indonesia, FM Kai Jie Soo of Australia, IM Bo Li of China and FM Tahsin Tajwar Zia of Bangladesh.

His two two losses came against Badmatsyrenov in the second round and FM Kim Yew Chan of Malaysia in the sixth round.

Cu’s father, Teddy Cu, said his son hopes to complete his Candidate Master title by January, 2024.

“The Penang tournament is huge for Ivan. He earned 151 rating points to improve to 2060 from his previous rating of 1909, sid the older Cu, who also credited IM Jan Emmanuel Garciafor helping polish his son’s game.

“We’ll just wait now for our federation (National Chess Federation of the Philippines) to facilitate Ivan’s papers.”

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ed Andaya