Thursday, June 4, 2009

GM Rogelio Barcenilla is the Philippines 12th grandmaster

Meet the newest Filipino grandmaster, GM elect IM Rogelio Barcenilla.


US based Filipino chess master and former two time Asian Junior Champion, former World Junior third placer and many-time Olympiad team member, Rogelio "Banjo" Barcenilla earned his third and final grandmaster norm in Mesa, Arizona making him the 12th grandmaster in the history of Philippine chess. One may recall that the 36 year old Banjo, as he is fondly called, is married to Woman National Master, Lilibeth Lee who are now both based in Arizona. Before Barcenilla gets his final and long overdue GM norm, I considered Barcenilla as the best IM the Philippines has ever produced.
IM Rogelio Barcenilla of the Phillipines won over GM Zviad Izoria to earn his third and final GM norm!

Surprisingly, IMs Barcenilla and Lenderman's stellar scores of 7/10 and 7.5/10 were not enough to win the tournament. GM Timur Gareev topped the field with a fantastic 8/10 score.

Read the rest of the story from USCF website
You can also join the lively discussions regarding Barcenilla's success at Pinoy Chess forum

CH wishes to extends its congratulation to GM elect, Rogelio Barcenilla! Cheers!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Catolos, please allow me to make a small correction. Barcenilla is just 36 years old :)

boy lopez said...

It's long overdue actually. Anyway congrats to our newest GM. We will support you all the way. Yes cheers!