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CEBU
CITY—Top Filipino woodpushers, led by Asia’s first
Grandmaster (GM) Eugene Torre, compete against the
continent’s finest in the Sixth Asian Individual Chess
Championship that starts Wednesday at the Cebu
International Convention Center.
It will
be uphill all the way for the Filipinos though as their
rivals, particularly from China and India, are expected
to go all out in the tournament that stakes 10 slots for
the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Cup late
this year.
“Mabigat,
masyadong mabigat ’yung field,” said Torre, now 56
but still undoubtedly the face of Philippine chess.
“Rating-wise, we’re no near the favorites. So we’re just
hoping that we could perform better than our ratings to
make it to the top 10. Sana makaisa o dalawa man lang
tayo,” added Torre, who is looking for his first
World Cup appearance since 1982 in Mexico when he
reached the quarterfinals of the event.
Besides
Torre, currently the top-ranked Filipino with an Elo of
2536, fellow GMs Joey Antonio and Mark Paragua and
International Masters Wesley So and Oliver Dimakiling
will be at the forefront of the Philippines’ campaign in
the 11-round Swiss System event organized by the
National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).
“Kung
base talaga sa rating walang papasok na Filipino,
but we are nevertheless confident on our chances,” said
Antonio, who qualified to the World Cup in 1999 after
topping the Asian Zonal the previous year.
“Actually, kung tutuusin, mas madali ngang mag-qualify
dito [Asian Championship] kaysa sa Zonal
na ’yung champion lang ang pumapasok, at least
dito sampu ’yung slot, although mahirap talaga
dahil nandiyan ’yung China at India,”
explained the 44-year-old many-time Olympian Antonio,
who last week won the Michigan Open.
China,
which finished a strong second in the Turin World Chess
Olympiad, is fielding 13 topnotch players led by GMs Nia
Hua (Elo 2681) and Zhang Pengxiang (Elo 2649).
GMs Zhao
Jun, Zhou Jianchao, Yu Shaoteng, Xu Jun and Wang Hao,
along with IMs Wen Yang and Wang Rui and Woman GM Shen
Yang, are the other Chinese bets competing in the event
sponsored by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR),
Department of Tourism (DOT), Nature’s Spring Mineral
Water, Crown Regency Hotel and the Cebu Provincial
Government led by Gov. Gwen Garcia with media partners
dwIZ, Home Radio, Philippine Graphic Magazine and
BusinessMirror.
The
Chinese earned six slots in last year’s edition in
Hyderabad, India.
Perennial powerhouse
India,
on the other hand, will be bannered by GMs Surya Shekhar
Ganguly (Elo 2586), Chanda Sandipan (Elo 2563) and
Abhijit Kunte (Elo 2519).
The
other notable entries in the field of more than 60
players are GMs Utut Adianto and Sunsanto Megaranto of
Indonesia, Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Anh Dung of
Vietnam
and Kim Aleyev of South Korea.
The
other Filipino players entered in this event are IMs
Julio Catalino Sadorra, Hamed Nouri, Barlo Nadera,
Richard Bitoon, Ronald Bancod, Emmanuel Senador,
Miraneau Maga, Efren Bagamasbad, Darwin Laylo, Oliver
Barbosa and Ronald Dableo, as well as Rolando Nolte,
Ernesto Fernandez, Raymond Salcedo, Anthony Makinano,
Rhobel Legaspi, Fernandito Pialan and Rodolfo Panopio
Jr.
Besides
the 10 slots to the World Cup, which will be held from
November 22 to December 18 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, a
total $40,000 (P1.8-million) cash purse is also at stake
in this tournament.
NCFP
president Prospero Pichay and Governor Garcia will make
the ceremonial moves to formally open the competition
after an elaborate opening ceremony, which is also
expected to be attended by FIDE (International Chess
Federation) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Asian Chess
Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah al-Nahyan,
Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, former NCFP president Go
Teng Kok, NCFP secretary-general and Tagaytay City Mayor
Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Cebu sports patron Boojie
Lim and other NCFP officials.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is invited to grace
the event. |
