Arroyo graces chess tournament
President Arroyo on Friday graced the opening ceremonies of the “The First President Arroyo International Open Chess Championship and Chess Challenge” at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque City.
The seven-day tournament features over 60 rated and 200 unrated players coming from the United States, Israel, Russia, China, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and the Philippines. Among the Filipino players taking part in the contest are Grandmasters Eugene Torre, Mark Paragua, Rogelio Antonio Jr, Nelson Mariano and 13-year old Wesley So.
A total of $30,000 or about P1.5 million is up for grabs in the tournament, with the champion receiving $6,000; $4,000 for the second runner-up and $3,000 for the third placer.
I believe GM Onischuk is also playing in this event.
http://www.ncfphilippines.org/
http://closetgrandmaster.blogspot.com/
You’re amazing, Susan. You get all the chess tidbits, even in Asia. I also read your write-up on then 12-year-old Wesley So’s appearance at the Olympiad, – now an IM at 13. You produce a high quality blog and do have a ton of international visitors to your site.
An appreciative almost daily reader.
I had a late night chat with a local GM who is participating in this event. Unfortunately, the event is pretty poorly planned.
1.The tournament is being played in the middle of a shopping mall. So the noise level is quite bad.
2.The accommodations are less than ideal and is about an hour away from the playing venue. Plus you have to battle heavy traffic to get there.
3. Quite a few foreign GMs who were advertised to come did not show such as Krasenkow, Adianto and Handoko from Indonesia and the Vietnamese GM delegation.
Also, along with Onischuk, Varuzhan Akobian is also here from the States. I believe they are both leading the tournament right now with 3/3 along with six others.