4th PGMA Cup

By Ed Andaya (journal.com.ph)

GM Wesley So will not be around, but the rest of the Filipino players vowed to put up a good fight when the fourth President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup international chess championship comes off the wraps on Sept. 24 at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Paranaque City.

So, the country’s highest-rated player with an ELO of 2644, begged off from participation due to previous commitments to play abroad, but defending champion GM Eugene Torre and World Cup-bound GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Darwin Laylo head the local challenge in this six-day championships organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in honor of President Arroyo.

Torre, who edged 2007 champion GM Li Chao of China and Zhang Zhong of Singapore in the tiebreak to win the title last year, vowed to come up with another vintage performance in his bid to retain the title and the top prize of US$6,000 out of the total prize fund of US$40,000.

“I’ll do my best to win and bring honors to the country again,” said Torre, who finished in a three-way tie for first place with Li and Zhang with seven points.

Antonio, ranked second behind So with an ELO of 2557, and Laylo, rated third with an ELO 2537, are expected to join Torre and other Filipino players in the hunt for major prizes.

Antonio, who is hoping to add another major title to his vast collection before he leaves for the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia on Nov 21.

Laylo, who is best remembered for topping the Asian Zone 3.3 chess championship in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a near-flawless score of eight points out of a possible nine, is just as confident.

“This will be a good test in my preparation for the World Cup,” said Laylo.

Both Antonio and Laylo were also fresh from competing in the Malaysian Open chess champion in Kuala Lumpur and the Asian Indoor Games qualifying tournament in Diliman, Quezon City recently.

The other local players to watch are newly-crowned Asian Indoor Games qualifying tournament topnotcher GM Mark Paragua and GMs John Paul Gomez, Jayson Gonzales, Buenaventua “Bong” Villamayor and GM-elect Ronald Dableo.

The foreign cast will be bannered by GMs Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia, Zhang Zhong of Singapore and Le Quang Liem of Vietnam.

Mchedlishvili, the fourth highest-rated player in Georgia with an ELO of 2613, and Zhang, who holds an ELO of 2606, are the two highest-rated foreign players who have already confirmed their participation in the tournament supported by the Department of Tourism, PAGCOR, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Duty Free Philippines and Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).

Le, one of several Vietnamese players in the registry, is the third highest-ranked player so far with an ELO of 2602.

The other notable players in the registry are GM Anton Fillipov (ELO 2595) of Uzbekistan (ELO 2595), GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (ELO 2589) of Vietnam, GM Abhijeet Gupta (ELO 2584) of India, GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami (ELO 2579) of Iran, GM Merab Gagunashvili (ELO 2564) of Georgia, GM Dao Thien Hai (ELO 2542) of Vietnam, GM Li Shilong (ELO 2531) of China, GM Anuar Ismagambetov (ELO 2528) of Uzbekistan and GM Oleg Romanishin (ELO 2515) of Ukraine.

The champion in the PGMA Cup will receive the lion’s share of US$ 6,000.

The runner-up will receive US$5,000, while the third placer will pocket US$4,000.

ACF deputy president Casto “Toti” Abundo will be the chief arbiter, while NCFP executive/events director Willie Abalos will be the tournament director.