Belsar Valencia tops Edmonton Chess Championship

Belsar Valencia. FACEBOOK

EDMONTON, Alberta — Belsar Valencia, a Filipino chess ace, dominated the just concluded 2019 Edmonton Chess Championship last March 3 in Edmonton City, Alberta, Canada.

Valencia, from La Union, defeated Canadian Jeff Reeve, 1.5.-0.5, in the finals en route to the Edmonton Chess Championship title for the third time. He earned the trophy with an undefeated record.

Valencia won his first game against Reeve after 77 moves of King’s Indian defense fianchetto variation then, halved the point in the second match after 41 moves of Sicilian defense, Najdorf- Adams Attack variation, according to Philboxing.com.

Valencia needed to beat Yash Darvekar, 2-0, in the Round-of-16; Aaron Sequillion, 1.5-0.5, in the quarter-finals; and Peter Kalisvaart, 1.5-0.5, in the semifinals to be on a titular showdown with Reeve.