Biggest tournament for seniors
EVER since I can recall, the biggest tournament in terms of prizes for seniors is now ongoing at the newly opened Cepca affiliated chess club at Knight Attack Chess Café located at Robinsons Galleria. I was based in Manila for 20 years and I cannot recall a comparable event.
It is sponsored by long time chess patron Boojie Lim of Rose Pharmacy and is exclusive to seniors 55 up. Format is 7 rounds Swiss and Time control is handicapping- 10 minutes class A,20 minute class B and 30 minutes class C.
The champion will be richer by P20,000, while the second placer will get P15,000 and third P10,000. The fourth to sixth placers will also get P5,000, P3,000 and P2,000, respectively. The seventh to 10th places will get P1,000 each, while the 11th -20th has a consolation prize of P500 each. Total prize is P65,000. Cebuano Seniors will have a joyous Christmas although some out of town players may suddenly appear.
The regular players will also share a fruitful Christmas with a Blitz tournament also with 7 rounds Swiss and handicapping time controls-class A 2 minutes ,class B 3 minutes and class C 5minutes. Total prize is P27,000.
The Ladies and PWDs will also have their own with prizes totaling P14,500. The champion will get P5,000, while second and third placers will get P3,000 and P2,000 respectively. The fourth to sixth placers will get P1000 each, while the seventh to 10th will get consolation prizes of P500 each.
Total prize for the three events is a whooping P106,500. Wow!
National Master Rogelio Enriquez won Group A, while Jun Kidlat was the Group B winner during the Grand Finals of the annual Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (CEPCA) tournament last Sunday at the newlyopened Knight Attack Chess Cafe in Robinsons Galleria .
The format was a four-round Swiss system in the elimination round, wherein the top four advanced into the knockout semifinals.
Enriquez defeated Peterson Sia, while Jimmy Ty, Jr. prevailed over Carlo Maraat . In the final showdown, Enriquez reaffirmed his mastery over Ty to keep his title and went home P3,000 richer.
Kidlat subdued Edwin Cablao in their sudden-death match to grab the group B crown, while incumbent president Jerry Maratas defeated Ronaldo Arnado for third place.
In the side event for non-qualifiers, Jave Peteros was the surprise winner, while former club president Manny Manzanares and Queenie Cablao placed second and third respectively
The club's year-ending tourney was graced by former Cebu City Mayor and CEPCA honorary member Mike Rama, who played an exhibition game with Maratas. After the tournament we had our Christmas party, awarding of prizes and induction of new members at White Gold house restaurant
Wesley. Wesley So will have his merriest Christmas ever. He won the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour by winning the London Chess Classic. He also achieved his target of a rating over 2800 and his live rating is now 2808.
This brought his winnings to an incredible $295,000 for the entire tour as he completely dominated his elite rivals who all belong to the top 10 players in the world.
This is his biggest achievement in his entire career and received a lot of praises from the other competitors, several of whom named him as the player to watch and a potential next challenger to the World Championship crown.
"I guess the word that comes to my mind is effortless," said Vishy Anand about So's performance this year. "It really looks effortless. He doesn't even seem to be trying very hard. He's been undefeated for so long... I'm very impressed by how easy he makes it seem."
The distant second placer in the overall standings is Hikaru Nakamura with $144,136, while third placer is Fabiano Caruana earning $108,500.