THE Philippine Academy for Chess Excellence (PACE) goes north on October 9-10 for the staging of the PACE-Tuguegarao Open Chess Festival

By Noli Cruz

There will be two sections in the event sponsored by the Compuserve Land Surveying Company of Engineers Abraham Cuaresma and A-Bee’z Express Travel and Tours of Ma. Theresa Cuaresma – the Open and the Kiddies. The Kiddies section is open to players born on or after 1996.

The Cuaresma couple has a seven-year-old son Abel  Isaac studying at the PACE school of chess in Quezon City.

The P100,000 prize fund will be broken down to 20 places in each section. Cash prizes also await the category winners.

The champion in the Open will get P20,000 and trophy while the winner in the Kiddies will take home P5,000 and trophy.

Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales, the founding president of PACE, will also hold a chess clinic for beginners and a simultaneous exhibition against 40 players.

“We are very happy to have Compuserve A-Bee’z Express Travel and Tours as partners in our mission to promote chess in the grassroots level,” said Gonzales.

GM Eugene Torre and International Master Yves Rañola will also go up against 40 players each in separate simultaneous exhibitions on the first day of competition.

“We’re hoping that the chess festival in Tuguegarao will just be a start of more chess festivals in the countryside,” said Torre.

The event supported by the Philippine Tourism Authority, Department of Education Region 2 Director Benito Tumamao, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 2 Executive Director Red Benjamin T. Tumaliuan and Tuguegarao local government headed by Governor Alvaro Antonio, Vice Governor Leonides Fausto, Rep. Randy Ting and Mayor Delfin Ting will use the rapid format with a control time of 25 minutes per player. The nine-round Swiss System format will be applied.

For inquiries, contact PACE Representative Gina Kobayashi at (02) 473-7008/0916-6169586 or visit www.rpchessacademy.org.

OPEN Category

Champion P 20,000 plus Trophy
2nd place P 15,000 plus Trophy
3rd place P 10,000 plus Trophy
4th place P 5,000 plus Trophy
5th Place P 3,000 plus Trophy
6^th  to 10^th  Place P 1,000 each plus Pinoy Chess Magazine
11^th to 20^th Place P 500 each plus Pinoy Chess Magazine

Top DENR Player Man P 1,000 plus Medal

Top DENR Player Woman P 1,000 plus Medal

Top Senior Tuguegarao P 1,000 plus Medal

Top Senior Open P 1,000 plus Medal
Top Unrated Tuguegarao P 1,000 plus Medal

Top Unrated Open P 1,000 plus Medal
Top Lady Tuguegarao P 1,000 plus Medal
Top Lady Open P 1,000 plus Medal

KIDDIES Category

Champion P 5,000 plus Trophy
2nd place P 3,000 plus Trophy
3rd place P 2,000 plus Trophy
4th place P 1,500 plus Medal
5th Place P 1,000 plus Medal

6^th to 10^th Place P 500 plus Medal plus Pinoy Chess Magazine

11^TH to 20^th Place P 300 plus Pinoy Chess Magazine

Top Youngest Player P 1,000 plus Medal
Best Under 12 Boys P 500 plus Medal
Best Under 12 Girls P 500 plus Medal
Best Under 10 Boys P 500 plus Medal
Best Under 10 Girls P 500 plus Medal
Best Under 8 Boys P 500 plus Medal
Best Under 8 Girls P 500 plus Medal