By leonard paul palo
The Davao Leg of the Shell National Youth Active Chess tournament, the Southern Mindanao Leg of one of the country’s longest running and biggest Chess tournaments unfolds today at the SM City Davao with a total of 400 players seeing action in the event backed by Pilipinas Shell Corporation.
The tournament where the likes of NM Reggie Olay, IM Oliver Dimakiling, WGM Kendi Gonzales, the late candidate GM Boris Diez, the Alonday Siblings, Ella Grace Moulic and many more notable names in the sport, is once again expected to draw in the region’s best up and coming talents.
Keen competition is seen all three divisions with the top two from the kiddies, juniors and seniors divisions gaining berths in the national finals slated Oct. 7-8.
The top female player from each category will also advance to the grand finals at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. For details, contact tournament coordinator Alex Dinoy at 0922-8288510. Registration forms can also be downloaded from www.shell.com.ph/shell_chess. <http://www.-shell.com.ph/shell_chess.> Registration fee is pegged at only P100.
On the other hand, the kiddies division features players aged 7 to 12 (born between 2004 to 2009), the juniors for 13 to 16 years old (born between 2000 to 2003) and the seniors for 17 to 20 (born between 1996 and 1999) for boys and girls.
This tournament is open to all Filipinos, non-titled players who are bonafide students certified by their respective schools and registrars. Previous grand final winners are allowed to compete again in their respective categories provided they are still within the age limit.
Meanwhile, the five-stage regional circuit winds up on September 16-17 in Cebu for the Visayas qualifier at SM City.
So far, 29 players have made it so far to the grand finals after three legs of the circuit sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.
The milestone 25th staging of the circuit is held to discover fresh talents, especially in the countryside, and develop them to become members of future national teams. It has produced top grandmasters, the foremost of which is current world No. 2 super GM Wesley So.
The event is also presented by Shell V-Power, Shell Advance, Shell Rimula, Shell Helix, Shell Fuel Save and Shell Card and held in partnership with SM Supermalls.
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