THE country’s young and upcoming woodpushers display their wares on Jan. 24 to 26 in the 2014 National Youth Chess Championships at the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
“This event gives our aspiring woodpushers, some as young as four years old, the chance to test what they have learned so far,” says Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales, Executive Director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) which is organizing the event.
The tournament is open to all youth players 15 years old and below, who are members in good standing with the NCFP. It is sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Bayan Muna party-list group.
Hundreds of chess players are expected to vie for honors in Boys and Girls 15, 13, 11, 9 and 7-and below categories. The age-group competition prepares young pawn pushers for important future and international tournaments.
Last year, Filipino bets produced an explosive showing in the 14th ASEAN + Age-Group Chess Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand and in the Asian Youth Chess Championships in Sari, Iran including Alekhine Nouri, who was named after the great Russian world titlist Alexander Alekhine.
Nouri became the world youngest Fide Master last year at seven years old during the 14th ASEAN + Age-Group Chess Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In comparison, GM Wesley So became an FM when he was 11, although it took him three years to get a GM title. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino