Friday, August 01, 2008 Rapid chess knockouts unfolds Aug. 2
BIG-time chess players return to this southern city as the fourth edition of the strong DWP Mixed Masters Invitational Rapid Chess Tournament unfolds at the Residence Hotel here this Saturday.
Fide Master Sander Severino will be on hand to defend his title in the prestigious two-day chessfest.
The event will also feature best players from Western Visayas, Manila and Palawan. At stake is a made-to-order champion's trophy and over P51,000 in cash prizes.
National Masters (NM) Cesar J. Mariano and Horizon Villanueva, along with a host of Candidate Masters (CM) led by Rosendo Reyes, will spearhead the Iloilo offensive, while FM Severino, NM Rodrigo Atotubo, NM Alfred Acaling and 1st DWP champion Ted Ian Montoyo will lead the Negros Occidental charge. Severino defeated Atotubo in a down-the-wire finals last year.
On the other hand, NM Rolando Andador will be representing Manila along with CM Ferdinand Leysa, while Aklan, Antique and Capiz Provinces will be parading their top players in the competition.
Aklan will be bannered by National Chess Federation of the Philippines regional coordinator NM Fred Neri, Capiz has NM Francis Jocson at the helm, while Nelson Lo Trayfalgar Jr. and Leo Magbanua will carry the brunt for Antique.
All told, one FM, eight NMs and some 50 CMs are taking part in the 64-player field.
Tournament organizer and Iloilo chess patron Nonoy Briones said the bigger prize fund this year was culled from employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) in California who chipped in various amounts to make the event possible for the fourth time in as many years. Briones contributed nearly a third of the prize fund himself.
These DWP employees are Jess Asiain, DWP Attorney William (Bill) Nees, Boy Domingo, Phil Abiog, Cleo Rojas, Rudy Salon, Rene Baluyot, Ossie Cuevas, George Kiaman, Don Gerwien, Hector Domingo and Edgar Angeles. (Boy Espejo Jr.)
