MANILA – The Rotary International District (RID) 3820 will host an Open Rapid chess tournament at SM City in Santo Tomas, Batangas, this Saturday, June 8.
Arena Grandmaster Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo will lead the participants in this fundraising event, which aims to provide prescription eyeglasses to 300 students at Pulong Sta. Cruz Elementary School in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
US Master Rodolfo Panopio Jr., National Master Efren Arguelles, Arnel Pinero, and Bren Sasot will also compete in the tournament, which is sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. The competition will follow a seven-round Swiss system format, with each player having 15 minutes plus a five-second delay per move.
Cash prizes for the Open Division are as follows:
Champion: P15,000
2nd Place: P10,000
3rd Place: P7,000
4th Place: P5,000
5th Place: P3,000
6th Place: P2,000
7th to 15th Places: P1,000 each
The top three finishers will also receive trophies, while those placing fourth to fifteenth will be awarded medals.
Champions in the Executive, Senior, Kiddies, Lady, 2000 and below, 1900 and below, 1800 and below, Unrated, and Batangas player categories will each receive PHP 1,000 and a medal.
Arena Grandmaster Dr. Fred Paez invites all chess enthusiasts, both Filipino and foreign, to join the tournament.
"We're organizing this tournament to promote chess at the grassroots level and to discover future chess talents and champions," said Dr. Paez.
Interested players can register by paying the PHP 500 fee via GCash to 0917-1370430
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