Paragua son tops New York Columbus chessfest

By: Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY – The son of Filipino Grandmaster Mark Paragua became the latest chess celebrity here when he topped the K-5 under 1000 division of the CIS Columbus Day Tournament at 11M here.

Dominic Nathan Paragua emerged No. 1 out of more than a hundred students mostly grade three and five in the tournament participated by 40 schools.

Dominic Nathan scored a perfect four points in four games in.

He bested Gabriel Balmaseda, Roberto Hernandez, Miles Soichet-Mason, and Chenran Zhao.

“My son only started playing two months prior to the tournament,” said Dominic Nathan’s mother, Mary Christine Joyce Paragua, who is also a former champion.

The event was organized by the Chess in the Schools (CIS) and supervised by Shaun Smith.