"A Pro was once a Beginner" is a quote from one of the greatest chess players from

Muntinlupa City and he is currently living here in San Fernando his name was Yzac Naveen
Andrew Nollora Baldemoro, a 16-year-old chess prodigy. He is a Candidate Master who has
a rating of 2105. He is now in a 2-year relationship and currently studying at Lupi National
High School, he is a Grade 10 student, and planning to take a STEM strand in Senior High
School.

He started playing chess when he was 5 years old in Kindergarten, his father taught him how
to play chess and he was his first-ever coach until now. Yzac grew up training every single
day with his father so that he could improve his skills and tactics.

He won so many tournaments way back when he was in Elementary. He became a

Candidate Master when he was in 5th grade. In the Interschool, Yzac won against 15 different
schools in his city, and became the champion, proceeding to the next level. Next, in the
District meet, he became a gold medalist and champion against the 2 districts of his city.
Then, in the Division meet, He fought some of the strongest players from different
universities in Manila including Ateneo De Manila University, De La Salle University, and FEU
Alabang. These schools are known for being competitive and good at chess but Yzac didn't
care and focused on his goal to win the game. He won a silver medal and was able to advance
to the NCR Meet.

During the NCR meet, he was very confident and did his best to win every game during the
tournament, after those rough hours of playing chess, he managed to beat all of his
opponents and became the Champion. He became a National qualifier and during the
National, Meet He was Ranked 2nd place, even though it is kind of sad it's okay for him
because he enjoyed all of his games and learned from his mistakes and errors.

Additionally, Yzac won and also became the Champion in the recent District meetmeet,
which was held last December 7, 2024, here at Lupi National High School. Moreover, in the
2nd Congressional Meet which was held last Feb 2-4 2024, at San Juan National High School.
Yzac only won 1 game out of 6 in the Standard game because of a severe headache and he
couldn't focus on the game. On the other hand, Yzac ranked 2nd place in the Blitz game with
a score of 5-1 (5 wins 1 loss)

When it comes to openings, Yzac's favorite opening in white piece's is Anderssen opening.
The purpose of this opening is to confuse his opponents since this opening is not credible
according to the book. While in black pieces is Kings Indian Defense and Sicilian Defense
Najdorf variation because it has a strong defense and it's not easy to break.

Yzac chose to be a chess player more than any other sport because it makes and improves
his thinking skills , such as tactics and techniques on how to win the game. It also suits to
Yzac since he is good at technique and making decisions in every game.

However, playing chess and being academic an achiever is not easy, Yzac multitasks to
balance chess with his studies, studying in the morning and practicing chess in the evening."

Moreover, Yzac is planning to continue his career as a chess player, he will be in many
tournaments in the future, and he's going toward pursuing his goal which is to be a
Grandmaster someday. Then he would like to pursue his other ambitions like graduating from
college and being an outstanding student in the class. Yzac also has many hobbies such as
playing the Rubik's Cube, he's not only good at chess but he's also a speedcuber. As of now,
Yzac wants to focus on his studies first and then pursue and play chess in the future.