Filipino Jan Clifford Labog wins big in Hongkong chess tourney; earns Candidate Master title
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 10 Aug 2025
Hongkong---Jan Clifford Labog of the Philippines has won the gold medal in the Under-2000 section standard chess category at the Asian Amateur Chess Championship in Hongkong, China on Saturday, August 9, 2025.
His performance, which included seven wins and two draws, secured him Candidate Master title plus the top prize of 12,000 Hongkong Dollar.
Labog's impressive run saw him defeat strong opponents.
He bested Kyle Chen of Hongkong (Round 1), Johnny Wellem Carzano of the Philippines (Round 2), Arena Grandmaster Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr. of the Philippines (Round 3), FIDE Master Nurasyl Zhumabek of Kazakhstan (Round 4), Zhengcheng Liu of China (Round 5), Irwin Aton of the Philippines (Round 8) and Egor Vlad Lovakov of Russia (Round 9).
He split the points with Wei Xu of China (Round 6) and Mikhail Khmelev of Russia (Round 7).
Labog said that the opponents he faced were extremely competitive, especially with the entry of many young and unheralded players.
"But with some luck, my experience still prevailed in the games I (played)," said Labog, a 19-year-old sophomore student of University of Santo Tomas taking Bachelor of Science Major in Finance.
"I would like to thank University of Santo Tomas and Finance Director of Datamatics Glory Grace Branzuela for supporting my local and International Chess tournament," said Labog from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya.
Finance Director of Datamatics Glory Grace Branzuela said that Labog will most likely join the 4th Touchmove Invitational Open Rapid Chess Tournament, which is set on August 24 at the Atrium of SM City Mall in Roxas City .-Marlon Bernardino-
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