Recently, I participated in a chess tournament in the Municipality of San Remigio together with 
Photo used with permission from
THE DAY BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT
We celebrated our annual Christmas Party event with a blast. Probably one of the best, if not the best Christmas party at a school setting that I have ever had.
We had lots of activities prepared for our program. One example is the
"Fold the paper in half" game. I don't really know what it is called but let us just call it at that🤣. We also held a "Macho Gay" contest inside our classroom. My friend,
We also had this special moment that I will never forget and shall be stored in my core memory for the rest of my life, with our adviser, 
After the activities, we ate the food that we prepared for the party and proceeded to the exchanging of gifts after that. I received a body spray and a cologne not bad I guess.
THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED DAY
December 16
We arrived at the venue at 8 o'clock in the morning but the event would eventually start at 10 am. Moreover, when the event started, we weren't able to play right away due to the lack of chessboards and tables. We had to wait until a board was unoccupied. This is mainly because everyone was told to bring their own chessboard or chess mat but not everyone brought their own chessboard or chessmat and so that resulted to the lack of materials.
While waiting for our first match to begin, me and
The pairings for our match, along with other players that weren't able to play immediately, were eventually announced. We then went to where the flyers for the pairings were posted and buckled up for our first match.
FIRST MATCH
My first game was against a very high-caliber player. This guy would eventually be placed top 8 at the end of the tournament. The game began with e4 and then I played the Sicilian Defense, while my opponent was just trying to occupy the center after that.
It was a close game at first, but I would eventually blunder and lose my knight in the process, leading me to ultimately lose the game.
LUNCH TIME!!!
Atfer two matches, the organizer announced that all players should take their lunch and return at 12:30 PM. We head out to a local restaurant and ordered "Lansiao" or more commonly known as "Soup Number Five" in some places. This is made from a bull's testicles (yes, you read that right) that are boiled to perfection. This tender meat is popular here in Cebu because of its nutty and earthy flavor and gummy and rubbery texture. My friend,
We had no time to waste so after eating, we immediately headed back to the venue.
When we arrived, it had not started yet so we roamed for a bit and played a couple of friendly matches first. We took advantage of the free time and practiced each of our own openings and reviewed where we went wrong on our recent games.
The organizers announced the pairing of the remaining 2 games for the 2nd half of the day. It was game time so we buckled up, got ready for the matches and went on.
MY THIRD MATCH
This has got to be the best and most unforgettable match that I've had in my chess life. This match was very intense, it started pretty smooth nothing special. We were equal until the endgame. I was forced into a losing position. I was down 2 pawns but with the right moves I made the position into a "zugzwang" for my opponent. Zugzwang refers to a position in chess where every legal move you have is a bad move and you are forced to do it. Because of that I would eventually force the game into a tie (Only Kings and Bishops were left) when I could have lost that game. It was truly a wonderful game that will be stored in my core memory. There were lots of spectators too, which made that moment more amazing than it already was.
LAST MATCH FOR THE DAY
Nothing special with this match, except for the fact that I got completely obliterated🤣. There was nothing I could do, Sir Jess was on a completely different level. If you were there and spectated our game, you would think and feel like the game was close, but no he was feeding me into a bad position and just waiting to devour what would be his next meal.
I eventually resigned as the two pawns that were raining down and ready to be promoted was unstoppable. This was a cool moment that I had with Sir Jess though. Props to Sir Jess for the sportsmanship that he showed. Believe me, we were just laughing and having fun the whole game.
After all of my matches ended, I spectated the matches of those players that were at the top. I was amazed by their calculations. There were moves that I couldn't predict and comprehend. I also learned a lot watching from their games.
We ended the day, drinking a couple of beers in San Remigio's Lapyahan. We invited
That will be all for my blog. Stay tuned for day 2 blog!!!! I hope you all enjoyed reading.
"You will only know you're good,
If people tell you you're good"
-Arthur M. Nery