Mark Paragua
Mark Paragua | |
---|---|
Full name | Mark Callano Paragua |
Country | Philippines |
Born |
Philippines | March 29, 1984
Title | Grandmaster |
FIDE rating | 2499 (February 2014) |
Peak rating | 2621 (April 2006) |
Mark Callano Paragua (born March 29, 1984) is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He was born to Flordeliza Callano and Ricardo Paragua, the latter of whom is also his coach. The father and son travel around the world to participate in international tournaments. He currently resides both in the city of Meycauayan and the adjacent town of Marilao in the province of Bulacan.[1]
At the 1998 Disney World Rapid Chess Championship for Kids, held November 15–17 at the EuroDisney theme park in Paris, Paragua and Bu Xiangzhi each finished first with 7½ points in the boys' 14 and under section, with Paragua taking the gold medal on tiebreak points.
He was the youngest Filipino master ever, at nine years of age. He also became the youngest Filipino GM ever at 20 (until Wesley So surpassed it), beating out Eugenio Torre's record by about two years.
Paragua qualified for the 2004 World Championship in Tripoli, Libya, where he was eliminated by Viktor Bologan of Moldova in the first round 1-3. He also qualified for World Cup Chess 2005 (qualifying tournament for world championship). He upset Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian in the first round before narrowly losing in the tie breaker against Alexey Dreev of Russia in the second round (Paragua drew both his games against Dreev in the regulation)
Paragua become the first Filipino to reach 2600 FIDE after he placed second in the Asian Zonal 3.3 Chess Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Paragua finished the nine-round Swiss system event with 7 points after a draw with Singaporean GM Wu Shaobin. In January 2006 FIDE listed Paragua with a rating of 2618 enough to get him in the top 100, but his rating has since dropped to 2521.
He played for the Philippines in the Chess Olympiads of 2002, 2004 and 2006.[2]
Notable games
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1397422, Mark Paragua vs Levon Aronian, Linares Anibal op 7th 2000, Formation: King's Indian Attack (A07), 1-0]
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1315996, Mark Paragua vs Jason Goh Koon-Jong, 36th Olympiad 2004, Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen, Classical Variation (B85), 1-0]
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1376815, Mark Paragua vs Sergei Movsesian, FIDE World Cup 2005, Slav Defense: Chameleon Variation, Advance System (D15), 1-0]
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1378321, Mark Paragua vs Alexey Dreev, FIDE World Cup 2005, Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Meran Variation (D45), 1-0]
References
- ↑ GM Barbosa captures Gov. Espino chess title
- ↑ "Men's Chess Olympiads: Mark Paragua". OlimpBase. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
External links
- Mark Paragua rating card at FIDE
- Mark Paragua player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- Mark Paragua