Ruelle Canino: A rising star in PH chess

THE air was thick with anticipation at the 2025 National Age Group Chess Championships as young and promising chess players from all over the Philippines had gathered, each determined to prove their mettle.

When the smoke of the battle cleared, a 16-year-old prodigy from Cagayan de Oro emerged as the brightest prospect for Philippine chess.

Ruelle Canino, known in her hometown as Tawing, bagged the championship in the under-18 division of the standard chess event over the weekend at the FPJ Arena in San Jose, Batangas.

What made her feat more amazing was that she joined not the girls division, but the open category where she battled with the country's top players in the boys division.

Representing Far Eastern University, Canino had long been a force to be reckoned with in age-group competitions.

But this tournament was different.

For the reigning UAAP juniors Most Valuable Player, the Batangas sojourn was a proving ground where she can test her true mettle against the opposite sex, who are perceived to be the superior sex in the world of chess.

Not in this case, however.

Sponsored by Coinex and Anichess, the event gathered the next generation of chess masters in a battleground where only the strongest would rise.

Canino, who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master, drew with Karlycris Clarito Jr. in the eighth and final round to finish with an undefeated record of seven points, a full point ahead of top seed FIDE Master Christian Gian Karlo Arca, who settled for runner-up honors in the tournament.

For topping the division, Canino also earned the right to represent the country in the under-18 (U18) Open section of the Asian Youth Chess Championships on Nov. 20-30 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Arca, who hails from Panabo City in Davao del Norte, redeemed himself by topping the blitz and rapid divisions of the National Age Group Championships and also booked a spot to the Asian Youth Chess Championships.

Canino, meanwhile, struggled in games with faster time control and ended up with 5.0 points in rapid and 4.0 points in blitz.

Other division winners in the standard chess event were April Joy Claros (girls U18), Kaye Lalaine Regidor (girls U16), Mark Gabriel Usman (open U16), Soffia Joy Mamangun (girls U14), Christian Tolosa (open U14), Khana Kathrine Ventolero (girls U12), Steve Zacky Bolico (open U12), Faith Louise Dorupa (girls U10) and Danry Seth Romualdez (open U10).