By MARK REY MONTEJO
Rising star Amber Mariana Maravilla stamped her class anew and clinched her second straight gold medal in the 20th Malaysian Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.
Maravilla won five out of six games to keep her U12 girls individual title in the 2025 Dato Tan Chin Nam Foundation Rapid Age Group Chess Championship.
One of the rising stars of GM Jet Chess School, Maravilla holds a 1517 rating.
It was also her third gold in the competition after winning the Merdeka Rapid Junior (U12) team championship along with Kirsten Monique Roque and Reese Valerie Barbosa and Singaporean Xinyi Andrea Yap last year.
“First, I’m very grateful to God for giving me this championship. Winning a championship is already hard, let alone defending it, so I am truly grateful, with God’s grace, nothing is impossible,” said Maravilla.
“My dad would always say, keep believing that you’ll win the next game, knowing that I’ll probably lose that as well, but then again, he said to just keep believing and trust God’s plan because one day, I will win,” she added.
The Grade 7 student of St. Paul College Pasig also snared a bronze in the Merdeka Rapid Team Junior (U12) Chess Championship.
However, Maravilla and her Filipina teammates fell short in the team where they settled for fourth place.
Competing under the stewardship of coach Expedito Bolico Sr., Maravilla took part in the youth competition against top bets from Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, and host Malaysia.
