CEBUANO wood pushers have something to look forward to next month as Cebu’s premier chess club, the Cebu Executives and Professionals Association (Cepca), will celebrate its 28th anniversary by holding the Boy “Chessmoso” Pestaño Memorial Chess Team Tournament on October 20 and 21 at the Barracks Chess Club at Robinsons Galleria Cebu.
The tournament is expected to draw more than a dozen chess teams in and outside Cebu as the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) will be sanctioning and rating the tournament.
The tournament, which is a team competition, will feature a three-man team that has a 2000 point NCFP rating. Non-rated players will be given by the governing body of chess in the Philippines an instant 1800 points to be able to join the tournament.
The upcoming cash-rich tournament is also aimed at commemorating Cebu’s “Father of Chess” Francisco “Boy” Pestaño, who passed away in May last year.
Pestaño is one of the founding members of Cepca and a pillar of Cebu’s chess community.
The tournament will be a nine-round Swiss system format with 25 minutes playing time and five-second increment for each player.
The champion team will pocket P20,000 while the runner-up will receive P15,000 and P10,000 for the third placer. The fourth placer will get P5,000, and P3,000 for the fifth placer. The sixth to 10th placers of the tournament will not go home empty handed as each will get P2,500.
The top three board players will receive P1,000 each.
Registration fee is P1,200 for those who will register before the end of September and P1,500 for those who will register in October.