Arjay Co is 3rd overall in nat’l chess championship's U18 age group

Ateneo de Manila Grade School chess wizard Arjay Co of 5-Bagobo placed third overall in the U18 division of the National Age Group Chess Championships (NAGCC). The U18 is the highest age group category of the NAGCC, which was held online on February 20, 2022. Ten-year-old Arjay has thus qualified for the next level leading to the Grand Finals, where the Top 3 players will represent our country and be flag bearers in the FIDE-sanctioned 2022 World and Asian Age Group Chess Championships. (FIDE is the French acronym for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, aka the International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation.)

Arjay also qualified in the NAGCC U12 age group placing sixth overall, and in the U14 age group placing eighth overall. The NAGCC’s U12 and U14 games were held on February 5 and March 6, respectively.    

Last but not least, Arjay has also qualified in the U11 age group category- placing sixth overall- of the National Youth and Schools Chess Championship held on February 12, 2022. This result also allows him to advance to the next level and vie for the chance to represent the country and the AGS in the World and Asian Youth and Schools Chess Championship, which is also organized by FIDE.

All these tournaments were played in seven grueling rounds of chess (Swiss mode) under a 15-minute plus 5-second increment time control. They were organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and utilized the Lichess online system as their playing platform.

Arjay is a member of the AGS Chess Varsity Team and is coached by Joan Datu.