Two-day CCS Cup woodpushing tilt draws massive attendance

(L to R) Cebu Chess Society (CCS) NA Glenda Tatoy, creative director Menchie Peteros, tournament director Atty. Gerald Serbise, and IA Michael Joseph Pagaran. | CDN Digital photo / Glendale Rosal

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Chess Society (CCS) ended its long hiatus by organizing a chess tournament dubbed as the “Cebu Chess Society Cup Open” which rolled out on Saturday, July 6, at the G Mall of Cebu.

A total of 327 woodpushers including several International Masters (IM), FIDE Masters (FM), National Masters (NMs) and Palarong Pambansa-bound athletes are currently competing in the nine round Swiss system tournament.

Due to its magnitude, CCS made sure that the tournament will follow international standards.

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True to it, CCS and the vaunted Toledo Xignex Trojans and the rest of its officials signed the “Covenant Against Cheating” during the opening ceremony of the tournament.

International standards

Besides that, they also implemented strict rules to allow them to have a smoothly-organized tournament, while striving to achieve their goal of producing the next chess masters from Cebu.

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“Our main goal is to help the kids to experience a tournament that follows an international standards, because our main goal is to produce a new chess master someday or help the children secure a varsity scholarship through chess,” said the tournament director Atty. Gerald Serbise.

“Having a tournament like this, we set international standards like zero defaulting time. We try our best to be well-organized. Nalipay ta kay at least daghan new faces niduwa, meaning nagkadaghan ang interest sa chess. Mao nang atong gi-strict ang rules and regulations sa atong tournament para at least matarong ug organize. Today nag sign ta ug “Memorandum of Agreement” for the Covenant of Anti-Cheating kay gusto nato ma preserve ang chess. We also want to instill discipline, that’s why we implement zero defaulting time. Chess is applicable in real-life you should also be always on time.”

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Serbise was joined by fellow officials Menchie Peteros and National Arbiter (NA) Glenda Tatoy, International Arbiter (IA) Michael Joseph Pagaran, and deputy chief arbiter FA Odilon Badilles.

Four-year hiatus

Besides their important objectives, the tournament also marked the end of CCS’ four-year hiatus. The last time the group held an over-the-board tournament was in 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s tournament has four categories, the open, under-17, under-13, and under-9. Generous cash prizes and medals are up for grabs for the winning woodpushers in this two-day tournament.