Manila, May 23 -- FIDE Master Sander Severino gave the Philippine chess community something to cheer about during these trying times as he placed second in the 1st FIDE Online Cup for People with Disabilities (PWD) on Friday.

Severino was solid throughout the tournament, scoring four straight victories to start his campaign before settling for a draw in his last match to finish with 4.5 points after five rounds.

He actually ended up tied with Polish grandmaster Marcin Tazbir on points after the online chess event but Tazbir clinched the gold after bettering Severino by just 0.5 point in the second Median-Buchholz tiebreaker.

Still, according to FIDE trainer James Infiesto, Severino's feat is remarkable.

"This is a dream come true barging in the world championships of disabled!" Infiesto said in his Facebook post on Friday announcing Severino's success.

International master Yuri Meshkov took third place after clinching the first tiebreaker over fellow Russian Denis Palin and Hungary's Gabor Acs. The three woodpushers ended up tied with four points each.