Levi Mercado

Levi learned the game of chess at the age of 17 and began reading books two years later. His first exposure to a national tournament was in 1996, playing on board 3 for the Cagayan de Oro city chess team, where they won the championships of the National Inter Cities Team Competition. In 1999, he played on board 1 for the Cagayan de Oro city team, scoring 7.5 points and earning a gold medal ahead of some GMs, IMs, FMs, and NMs. His first international and FIDE-rated competition was in 2005 in Palma Mallorca, Spain, where he secured 5th place with a score of 6.5, defeating 5 FMs and 1 IM. He began teaching kids in 1992 and in 2009 worked at Powerchess Asia Ltd. in Singapore. In 2010, he started offering chess lessons online. Currently, he works as a chess coach at Chess Knowledge. In his 30 plus years of teaching, he has produced 1 IM, 2 FMs, 3 WFMs, and 2 NMs in the Philippines, and 3 NMs in the USA. His next goal is to produce titled players in the UAE.