Jonathan Jota finished the tournament undefeated to emerge champion in the 9th AQ Prime FIDE Rated Standard Chess Open Tournament held from March 29 to 30, 2026 at SM City Masinag Atrium, Antipolo City.
Jota opened his bid with consecutive victories over Xianle Klent Aragon, Jon Mark Anarna, Jin Clark Myco and Christopher Khalil Kis-ing before settling for a draw against Cedric Kahlel Abris in the fifth round. He closed his campaign with a decisive win against Ritchie James Abeleda to claim solo first place with 5.5 points.
For his feat, the 3rd seeded Jota received the P10,000 top purse and a trophy.
The 7th seeded Jeremy Marticio tallied 5.0 points and benefited from his high tie-break points to claim runner-up honors, the P7,000 purse and a trophy.
Also with 5.0 points, Knarf Lawrence Batislaong placed third and brought home the P5,000 prize and trophy.
Placing fourth to sixth place were Jin Clark Myco Miranda, Jersey Marticio and Yuri Paraguya, who also tallied 5.0 points.
Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Abeleda, Abris, Eowyn Jullado, and Denniel Penafiel, who all scored 4.5 points.
AQ Prime exclusive talent John Randall Peralta, meanwhile, scored 4.0 points to win the kiddies boys category.
One of the highlights games of Peralta was when he beat top seed Catrihino Pestano in the fourth round.
The other category winners were Queen Sheylee Tolentino (top female), Dennis San Juan (top senior), Paraguya (16-18 years old), Jerick Faeldonia (13-15 years old), and Laurice Isidro (kiddies girls).
"Our goal is to support the chess community especially in standard chess format. We thank NCFP for giving us the opportunity to organize this kind of chess event,” said AQ Prime CEO Aldwin Alegre.
“We want to promote standard chess format or long game format at least 60 minutes, because we want players to stay disciplined and focused and promote a deeper mental engagement with the game. In addition, in standard, this is where you have a chance to increase your rating and eventually get a title in the future," added Alegre, a former Emilio Aguinaldo College varsity chess player.