6th Dr. Jose P. Leviste Sr. Inter-School Chess Festival

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

AROUND 200 young chessers from different schools will vie for top honors in various divisions in the 6th Dr. Jose P. Leviste Sr. Inter-School Chess Festival gets underway on November 7 at the Blue Eagle Gym of Ateneo de Manila University in Katipunan Ave., Quezon City.

(IN PHOTO: Winners of the 5th Dr. Jose P. Leviste Sr. Inter-School Chess Festival. Photosource: kiddiechess.blogspot)

Ateneo de Manila University coach national master Rudy Ibanez under the guidance of program head former Olympian IM Ildelfonso Datu expects the country’s talented and upcoming woodpushers to see action in grade school, high school and college divisions who are not titled players. All participants are required to bring respective school IDs at the playing venue.

The three-division tournament will employ a six-round Swiss system format with an active time control of 25 minutes per player. FIDE Laws of Chess will apply in all divisions.
Top four places per division shall be awarded with trophies and cash prizes.

The overall college champion pockets P5,000 with the next three placers getting P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000, respectively. The top high school and elementary finisher win P4,000 each. The second to fourth placers in both divisions settle for the cash purse of P2,000, P1,000 and P500, respectively.
A special award is given to the top Grade 1 and Grade 2 finisher in the tournament.

Players can register on Nov. 7 starting at 8 a.m. Registration fee is P300 per person. Reservations are accepted through email at admuchesscoach@gmail.com.

The first round of play begins at around 10 a.m. The chessfest is a project of the Ateneo Grade School, High School and Collegiate chess teams under IM Datu in honor of the memory of Ateneo alumnus Leviste (HS ’33, AA ’35).

For more details, call or text 0922 (8366312) 0r 0906 (2662580).