AFTER the twin cash-rich basketball and volleyball tournaments, Moalboal Mayor Inocentes Cabaron is looking at hosting a major chess tournament with no less than GM Eugene Torre in attendance on May 11 and 12.
Cabaron, in cooperation with Biboy Badilles, will be holding the 2nd Mayor Inocentes Cabaron Chess Festival, which will have the Invitational Open, locals, 18 and 12-Under divisions.
The event will also be graced by GM Torre, Asia’s first grandmaster, who is expected to hold a simultaneous match (simul) against some of the promising young players of Moalboal.
“Moalboal has a rich tradition and history in chess, by holding this tournament, we hope to discover the next generation of players and nurture their talents,” said Cabaron.
It is that rich history in the game that enabled Moalboal to tap the services of the legendary GM Torre, who learned the game at the chess club owned by the late National Master Glicerio “Asing” Badilles, the country’s first National Master who traces his roots to Moalboal.
The arbiter of the tournament is Odillon Badilles, the son of the late chess legend.
The event will have an Open Division, Local Residents, and the 18-Under and 12-Under with the top players getting cash prizes. Aside from that, the highlight of the event is the planned simul by GM Torre against the young players of Moalboal.
“GM Torre prefers playing against the young kids since he wants to help them nurture their potential,” said Biboy, who contacted Torre for the event.
Not the first time
This isn’t the first time GM Torre will be holding a simul in Moalboal as he also had a similar one during the 1st Asing Badilles Memorial Tournament in 2019.
This is the second straight year that Cabaron is holding a chess festival.
In 2023, Cabaron organized a 20-board simul with International Master Rico Mascarinas and youth and open tournaments for locals.
For this year, Cabaron is staging the twin invitational basketball and volleyball tournaments, with the champion in basketball earning a cool P200,000 and the champion in both the men’s and women’s divisions of volleyball taking home P50,000 each. / ML