Gov. Angara-Castillo Cup chess tourney on in Aurora

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Edgardo Angara will be one of the guests of honor and speakers during the formal opening of the first Gov. Bella Flor Angara-Castillo Cup National Open rapid chess championship this weekend at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Capitol Bldg., in Baler, Aurora.

Angara will join Gov. Bella Flor Angara-Castillo, National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) chairman-president Prospero Pichay Jr. and GM Eugene Torre during the opening ceremony at 1 p.m. today.

A joint project of the Baler provincial government and the NCFP, the two-day tournament will be held in cooperation with the ESR Productions, headed by president Emy Santos and consultant Jovy Macapagal .

At stake in the tournament are the prestigious Gov. Angara-Castillo Cup and P127,000 in cash prizes.

The champion will pocket the lion’s share of P30,000, runner-up P20,000, third placer P10,000, fourth P8,000, fifth P6,000, sixth P4,000, seventh P3,000, eighth P2,500, ninth P2,000, 10th P1,500 and the 11th to 20th P1000 each.

In the kiddies division (14 under), the champion will pocket P5,000, second placer P3,000, third P2,000, fourth P1,500, fifth P1,000 and sixth-10th placers P500 each.

The top three placers in different categories – top female, top Aurora Province player and top Aurora Province kiddie – will get P2,000, P1,500 and P1,000, respectively.

Newly crowned Gov. Umali Cup champion GM Mark Paragua and Dresden (Germany) Olympiad veterans GMs John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo, Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor and Jayson Gonzales head the list of bidders in the tournament.

The two-day rapid tournament, which is open to all NCFP members in good standing, is expected to attract top-rated players not only from Manila but other parts of the country.

It will be conducted under the Swiss system format with each player given 25 minutes to finish the game.

For inquiries, call up NCFP executive director Willie Abalos at cell 0929-2266210 /0929-2390644, Aurora provincial sports director Engr. Cornelio Ancheta Jr. at cell 0918-4112338 or the secretariat (02) 3817224, 0927-7209260 or 0905-3269576.