Tabudlong said they would welcome only the first 500 players in the junior and kiddies categories during the two-day tournament.
Cash prizes and trophies will go to the winners in the Davao leg with the first three finishers in both divisions earning berths to the national finals slated in November this year in Manila.
This year's theme is "Ikaw ba ang next Pinoy Grandmaster?" which aptly describes the Shell Active Chess vision of producing world-class Filipino talents. Since its inception in 1995, it has graduated chess champions like Grandmasters Mark Paragua and Nelson Mariano II, and Wesley So.
The Southern Luzon eliminations will be held in Batangas on July 19-20 at SM City Batangas and in Naga on August 2-3 for the third and fourth legs, respectively.
Cebu takes its turn to host the event on August 23-24 at SM City Cebu, while Iloilo stages the sixth leg on August 30-31 at SM City Iloilo for the Visayas regionals.
The national junior champion will receive P30,000 plus trophy and the kiddie winner willget P20,000 plus trophy. Pilipinas Shell has also put up additional prizes for the grand finals' third and fourth placers in each category of the tournament.
