40th Chess Olympiad qualifying tourney set

THE National Chess Federation of the Philippines will conduct a qualifying tournament to select the members of the Philippine team to the 40th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this year.

The qualifying event will be known as the 2012 National Open Chess Championship and will kick off with an elimination tournament on April 16 – 20 at the Philippine Academy for Chess Excellence (PACE) headquarters in Quezon City.

Open to all untitled NCFP members who are in good standing with the organization, the series of tournaments will be conducted nationwide to select the qualifiers for the semifinal round. The top thirty placers or 30 percent in each elimination tourney, whichever is lower, from the Men’s Division shall advance to the semifinal round to join the titled players.

Registration is P300. Non-NCFP members must apply for membership before joining the tournament by paying the necessary annual dues.

In the distaff side, the top 40 percent shall advance to the semifinal round where they will join the titled women players.

After the semifinals, the top six placers in the men’s division will join the 10 Grandmasters while the top eight placers in the women’s category will join the six seeded chessers from the 2011 Battle of Grandmasters in the finals. However, this is subject to change in case of withdrawal or inability to play of any of the seeded players.

For more information and registration contact: IA Gene Poliarco at 0923-7309445, IA Ilann Perez at 0949-1760889, FA Patrick Lee at  0927-7209260 or email [email protected].  /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino