THE Philippine National Chess Championship got going on Thursday at the Solea Hotel and Resort in Mactan, Cebu, with Grandmasters (GMs) Joey Antonio and Darwin Laylo emerging as pre-tournament favorites.
At stake in the championship is a spot on the national team to the 2023 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and a cash pot of more than P200,000.
Only the top 10 Filipino players are seeing action in the single-round robin tournament. The others are International Masters (IMs) Ronald Dableo, Paulo Bersamina, Daniel Quizon and Jem Garcia.
Also seeing action are IMs Ricky de Guzman, John Marvin Miciano, Michael Concio, Jr. and Joel Pimentel, Allan Pason and Woman GM Janelle Mae Frayna.
Antonio, 59, will be gunning for his 14th title while Laylo, 41, is after his fourth crown.
Besides a slot to the AIMAG in Bangkok and Chonburi in 2023, a champion’s purse worth P80,000 and P50,000 and P25,000 to the second and third placers, respectively, will be up for grabs, according to National Chess Federation of the Philippines CEO GM Jayson Gonzales.
Antonio faced Bersamina and Laylo battled Dableo on Thursday. Other pairings pit Pimentel against Pason, de Guzman against Concio, Garcia against Frayna and Miciano against Quizon.
The six-day event is bankrolled by National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Chess Movement Inc. chairman Dr. Ariel Potot and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office vice chairman and general manager Royina Garma and Atty. Roel Canobas.