Cepca grand finals and Rose Pharmacy Open

By Frank 'Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THE grand finals of the Cebu Executives and Professionals Association Inc. will be on Dec. 22 at 3 p.m. at our residence in Mabolo (in front of the old Coaco bldg. and at the back of NG Marble).

There will also be a side event among the non-qualifiers and the grand finals of the kiddies and juniors players. After the tournaments, we will celebrate our Christmas party and induct the new set of trustees and officers for 2008.

Inducting officer will be our honorary member National Master Bombi Aznar, a hall of famer in chess.

Kiddies qualifiers are Kyle Sevillano (January),Marie Cecille Lumapac (February), Felix Shaun Balbona (March), John Francis Balbona (April), Marq Balbona (May), Jan Tilus (June), King James Torres (July), Jeroni Vinculado (August), John Paler (September), Godfrey Villamor (October ), Giral Miral (November).

Junior Players are Christian Lumapac, Yves Fiel , Cy Balbanera , Nicky Sabiquil, Yuri Cauba and Jessa Balbona .

Kiddies, Juniors and other guests will be assessed at P160 per person.

Here are the monthly winners who will slug it out to claim the 2007 Cepca Championship: Percival Fiel (January), Nic Cuizon (February), Miguel Banebane (March), Joe Atillo (April), Maggi Dionson (May), Mandy Baria (June), Zaldy Tabanao (July), Jun Olis (August), Mat Matuco (September), Jojo Muralla (October), Richard Ouano (November), and Bombi Aznar.

The finalists will be split into two groups and each group will play a round robin among themselves. The top player on each group will play for the championship while the other placers will vie for third and fifth places, respectively.

Format will be the same with the Kiddies, while the Juniors will play a single round robin. It will be a 5-round Swiss with handicaps among the Cepca non-qualifiers.

To make our gathering a success , please give your contribution early (deadline Dec. 18). Deliver it to our affiliate Collonade Chess Club C/O Malou Pestaño or Handuraw Lahug c/o the cashier (near UP T-2326401). There will be different assessments for incoming and outgoing trustees, grand finalists and other members.

For more information call 4120447, or contact Mandy Baria at 0915-4411344 or Mat Matuco at 0918-9062341. If you cannot attend, be a good member and still give your contribution. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain.

Rose Pharmacy. The Christmas tournament of Rose Pharmacy will start tomorrow Dec. 15 at 12 p.m. at SM City Mall near the LTO licensing office.

Format will be a 5-round Swiss Tournament on both Saturday and Sunday. The top eight players on each day will qualify to the knockout format on Monday and Tuesday at the Deep Blue Café also at SM.

Prizes are: P30,000 for the champion, P15,000 for the runnerup. Losing semifinalsts will earn, P4,000, while losing quarterfinalists will get P2,000. Those who make it to the last eight get P1000 each.

There will also be a separate tournament for Kiddies Under 14 and also for the ladies.

Registration is P200, while for the kiddies and ladies divisions, it is P100.

Boojie Lim has been sponsoring tournaments since 1979 and his commitment and love for the game is phenomenal. He belongs to the elite company of the legendary Luis Rentero of Linares fame and Joop Von Oosterom of Melody Amber who make things happen in chess. To this day, Boojie remains humble and soft-spoken. He is also an honorary member of Cepca.

Vic-Governor Gregory Sanchez Jr. will be the guest of honor.

Commendation. Last weekend there was a break-in at our residence by an “unidentified” person. I reported the incident to the Mabolo Police Station 4 and was immediately investigated and attended to. Our family would like to thank SPO4 Raul Magdadaro, SPO2 Elmer Tanjay, PO3 Jeffrey Lanobis and PO2 Arnel Maglinto for their prompt action.

(frankpestano@yahoo.com)