IT'S all systems go for the 2010 George Aguirre/Atty. Eugenio Villasor Villanueva Jr. (GAEV) Memorial Open Individual Chess Tournament on August 22 at Ang Sugbahan (Top's Bowling Drive-In Restaurant), 10th/Hilado Sts., Capitol Shopping Center, Bacolod City.
One of the prime objectives of the event is to "provide much-needed exposure to promising young chess talents who may become future chess standouts representing the country in international competitions."
This was reiterated by tournament sponsors and US-based chess patrons Antonio Ivan Aguirre and Engineer Hugo Villanueva, as told to tournament director and chief arbiter Dodz Felisilda.
Aguirre, the youngest brother of George and who is now connected with a US-based international organization, is a certified public accountant, a computer fraud examiner, a computer system investigator and a holder of Master of Business Administration. He is a co-author of a casebook on "computer fraud" and the second book entitled "Internet Fraud Casebook" that were all published by Wiley publishers. Moreover, he is also a martial arts instructor and a former college chess varsity of La Salle-Bacolod (now USLS).
Meanwhile, Villanueva, who is the fourth and youngest son of the late lawyer Villanueva, is a US Senior Chess Master and was a former college chess varsity of West Negros College (now West Negros University). He is currently a US-based businessman and a licensed practicing Professional Electrical Engineer after passing the US State Board exam in 2009.
On the other hand, the top three scorers in the tournament's kiddies 13 years old and below category will receive P700 plus gold chess medal for first place, P500 plus silver chess medal for second place, and P300 plus bronze chess medal for third place.
Meanwhile, the top three scorers in the women's division will also receive special prizes of P1,000, plus gold chess medal for first place, P600 plus silver chess medal for the second place, and P400 plus bronze chess medal for third place.
Prizes awaiting the winners for the Open category are: for the Champion -- P6,000 plus 42-inch, four-legged trophy; for the 1st Runner-up -- P5,000 plus 36-inch, four-legged "Queen" trophy; for the 2nd Runner-up -- P3,500 plus 30-inch, four-legged "Rook" trophy; for the 3rd Runner-up -- P2,500 plus 27-inch, four-legged "Bishop" trophy; and 4th Runner-up -- P1,000 plus 24-inch, four-legged "Knight" trophy.
The 6th to 25th places will each receive Eureka chess sets with chess mats and bags.
The seven-round Swiss system event is organized by the Game Royale Aficionados of Negros Inc. headed by Dr. Alfonso Teorima. It is open to male and female players from Negros who must know how to record chess games either through the Descriptive English Notation or Algebraic Notation and must provide their own tournament chess sets and chess clocks.
Registration fee is P200 each participant. The payment must be settled upon registration in order for players to be included in the first round pairings.
Deadline for registration is on August 20, 6:00 p.m.
For more information, interested participants may contact tournament director and chief arbiter Dodz Felisilda through telephone number (034) 707-0421 or mobile numbers 0917-607-83-73 and 0919-658-1254.