Friday, September 05, 2008
Shell Youth Chess at SM
By Marianne Saberon-Abalayan
SOME 600 woodpushers from all over Mindanao will vie for honors and slots to the Grand Finals when the 16th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships Davao leg gets underway on September 13 and 14 at the SM City Davao Entertainment Center.
Tournament coordinator Ronnie Tabudlong, who guested during the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn Thursday, said they regularly limit the number of entries to 500 but the Shell management allowed an additional of 100 slots to cater to out-of-town players like those coming from Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, Panay, and Manila.
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Most entries, however, will come from Davao City and nearby cities and provinces like Kidapawan, General Santos, Tagum, and Panabo.
Tabudlong said even players from the Visayas, Luzon, and the National Capital Region (NCR) are expected to come in the final stop of the seven-leg qualifying meet.
"They are not after the cash prizes but to win the right to play in the Grand Finals set on November 8 and 9. We expect a lot of out-of-towners who failed to qualify in past legs to come and join our leg here," Tabudlong said.
He said the top three players in juniors 20-under and kiddies 14-under categories are the ones who will represent the region in the national finals that stakes a cash prize of P30,000 for junior titlist and P20,000 for the kiddies champion.
"Special prizes will also be awarded to the youngest player, top eight-year-old and under player, overall top female player, sportsmanship award and school most represented in both junior and kiddies divisions," Tabudlong said.
The Davao leg top five junior chessers will receive P5,000, P4,000, P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000, respectively, while the first five kiddie players will pocket P4,000, P3,000, P2,000, P1,000 and P500.
Similar legs were held in Tuguegarao, Batangas, Naga, Cebu and, Iloilo where their top three winners in each category have already booked tickets to the Grand Finals of the annual chessfest that produced the likes of Grand Master (GM) Eugene Torre, Super Grand Master Wesley So, and Davao City's very own International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (September 5, 2008 issue)
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