Summer chess fiesta

By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso

LOCAL chess players never had it so good. Under the dynamic leadership of Prospero "Butch" Pichay, NCFP has sent a lot of them abroad to hone their skills as well as to earn that elusive IM or GM norms. I have lost count but a good number of them are women as well as children.

Jayson Gonzales is now a grandmaster, the third after Darwin Laylo and Wesley So under Pichay's term.

To top it all, scheduled this summer are three big tournaments that is unprecedented in the history of Philippine chess.

Starting on April 22 to 30 is the "Battle of GMs" featuring the country's top players at the Manila Pavilion. Committed to play are GMs Wesley So (2540), Mark Paragua (2537), Joey Antonio (2529), Eugene Torre (2519), Jayson Gonzales (2467) and Bong Villamayor (2425).

Also playing are IMs John Paul Gomez (2464) and Julio Catalino Sadorra (2455), FM Fernie Donguines (2362), and NMs Rolando Nolte (2420), Oliver Barbosa (2403) and Hamed Nouri (2392).

At stake are trophies and cash prizes, with the champion pocketing P200,000. The first and second placers will receive P150,000 and P100,000, respectively.

Other cash prizes are P75,000 for the fourth placer, P50,000 for the fifth placer, and P30,000 for the sixth to eighth placers.

Here are the women who have pledged to join the mixed tournament: Catherine Pereña (2234), Sherily (2132) and Shercila Cua (2203), Rulp Ylem Jose (2044), Jenny Rose Palomo, Jedara Docena, Aices Salvador (1998), WIM Beverly Mendoza (2072), Chardine Cheradee Camacho (2106), Kimberly Jane Cunanan, Christy Lamiel Bernales, and Enerose Magno.

Remember Jenny Rose? She is from Cebu and is studying under a chess scholarship in Manila. She used to play with Cepca members and is a head-turner.

INTERNATIONAL. Two big Open International tournaments are scheduled this summer with $70,000 in cash prizes. The Second Philippine Open International Tournament starts May 6 to 15 at the La Legenda Hotel in Subic Bay Freeport, and will be followed immediately by the third Philippine Open from May 15 to 24.
Registration is free for GMs and players with Fide ratings of 2450 and above on both tournaments.

For other players, the registration fee, corresponding to their Fide ratings is:2400 to 2449-$50; 2300 to 2399-$75; 2200 to 2299-$100; 2100 to 2199- $125. Fide ratings below 2100 (based on the April 2008 Fide list) cannot join the event.

Forty thousand dollars in cash prizes shall be awarded in the first competition, with the breakdown as follows; first place ($6,000), second place ($5,000),third ($4,000), fourth ($3,000), fifth ($2,000), sixth ($1,500), seventh ($1,300), eighth ($1,200) and the ninth to 14th placer will get S1,000. The 15th to 18th placers will get between $900 to $600, while the those in the 19th to 32nd place will get $500, each.

Cash prizes shall be shared equally among tied players.

On the other hand, prizes are slightly lower in the second contest with a total $30,000 in prize money.

The format for both competitions are 11 rounds Swiss with time control at 90 minutes per player plus 30 seconds increment from move 1.

GMs shall be provided free accommodation on a twin sharing basis, from one day prior to the opening to one day after the closing ceremony.

Deadline for Registration is May 1 and 10, respectively. Entries after the deadline shall pay double the registration fee.

DUBAI OPEN. Former Sun.Star sports editor and Cepca member Jobannie Tabada competed in this contest from April 6 to 15 won by "Boy wonder" Wesley So. He scored a respectable 5/9 in this strong tournament with 131 players from 25 countries including 29 GM/WGM, 21 IM/WIM and 22 FMS.

He defeated WGM Mohota Nisha, FM Somoff Abdo ,WIM Pourkashiyan Atousa, Debashis Das and C. Natarjan of India.

Starting today, I will be featuring a chess puzzle on a regular basis.