Scenes during the Chess Infinitum tournament in Manila. | Photo from IM Yap’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Cebuano woodpushers will test their mettle in a one-of-a-kind chess tilt, the Cebu Chess Infinitum Tournament 2022, on July 16 at the Ayala Center Cebu.
The tournament features a new chess variant called the Infinitum Chess, which was discovered in 1998. However, the Infinitum Chess was not utilized until recently in mainstream chess, according to one of its devoted practitioners and tournament organizer, International Master (IM) Kim Steven Yap.
Cebuano chess patron Boojie Lim originally introduced the Infinitum early in 2000 in Cebu. It utilizes a semi-10×10 board with standard chess pieces. However, this chess variant is unique because it only has six pawns on each side while it has a special piece, the wizard.
Lim first initiated an infinitum tournament in 2013 at the Colonnade Mall in downtown Cebu City. It will return on July 16 to re-introduce the variant to the Cebuano chess community.
According to IM Yap, the tournament similarly features the same mechanics and rules. It will utilize a Swiss system format and a semi-blitz style of play with 10 minutes and five-second increment playing time.
However, the pieces, moves, and executions are unique and filled with excitement.
“This was originated in California, and sir Boojie Lim brought it to Cebu. Sir Boojie wanted to promote this variant again to Cebuano chess players, and recently, a Chess Infinitum tournament was successfully organized in Manila. It was participated by some of the country’s best chess players,” said IM Yap.
The inaugural tournament in Manila that happened earlier this month drew Grand Master (GM) Eugene Torre, IM Roderick Nava, and IM Daniel Cuizon. A total of 150 wood pushers took part in the tournament.
For the Cebu tournament on July 16, IM Yap targets the same number of participants the Manila tilt had. He is confident they’ll hit their target number of participants since it has free registration.
“This is exciting because it’s a brand-new variant in chess. There’s no rankings or ratings yet, so there’s a level playing field for everyone. We also believe that this variant will grow bigger since we already coordinated with the FIDE. Maybe in the future, we can make turn this variant into one of the world championships in chess,” said IM Yap.
The winning woodpushers for the upcoming tournament will receive cash prizes. The top woodpusher gets P10,000, the second placer receives P7,000, the third placer takes home P5,000, and the fourth placer receives P4,000. The rest of the top ten, the top female performer, top senior, top 16-under, top 12-under, and top 10-under will also receive cash prizes.
In addition, IM Yap and Lim are planning to hold the tournament monthly. They are also planning to introduce the Infinitum Chess in the online world as they tapped the Tier One E-Sports for a partnership.
For more information about the upcoming Cebu Chess Infinitum Tournament 2022, check IM Yap’s Facebook page.
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