Pichay Cup international chess under way

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richie Garcia will be the special guest when the sixth Prospero Pichay Cup international chess championships reel off at 2 p.m. today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Adriatico St., Manila.

Garcia will make the ceremonial moves along with National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay.

Also expected to grace the opening ceremony are FIDE representative Toti Abundo, NCFP executive secretary and Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino.

The Pichay Cup is the first of two major chess competitions being hosted by the country this month, the other being the Florencio Campomanes Memorial chess tournament set Aug. 28-Sept. 3 also at the NAS.The twin chess tournaments offer the biggest combined cash prizes of $130,000, making them among the biggest in the world.

At stake in the Pichay Cup is $30,000, with the champion bringing home $6,000. The runner-up receives $4,000, the third placer $3,000, the fourth $2,000 and fifth $1,500. The sixth up to the 13th placers will earn $1,000, while the 14th up to the 24th placers also receive cash prizes.

The Campomanes Cup stakes $100,000 put up by FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The champion in the Campomanes Cup will bring home the lion’s share of $10,000. The runner-up and the third placer will pocket $9,000 and $8,000, respectively.

Cash prizes will also be given to the fourth placer ($7,000), fifth placer ($6,000), sixth ($5,000), seventh ($4,000), eighth ($3,000), ninth ($2,000) and 10th ($1,500). The 11th up to the 35th placers will also get consolation cash prizes.

Two side tournaments – Women and Challengers – will also be held simultaneously with the Campomanes Cup.

The total cash prizes in the women’s division is $20,000, while the challenger’s section will offer $10,000.

In the women’s division, the champion will earn $5,000, the runner-up $4,000 and third placer $3,000. The fourth up to the 15th placers will also receive cash prizes.

In the challenger’s section, the champion gets $3,000, runner-up $2,000 and third placer $1,000. The fourth up to 11th placers will receive consolation prizes.

Grandmasters Wesley So and Eugene Torre have already begged off from the Pichay Cup, citing prior commitments, but the rest of the national team mainstays are seeing action.

Among the notable foreign players expected to see action are former champions GMs Ni Hua and Li Chao of China, fast-rising GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, Zhao Jun of China, Aleksei Aleksandrov of Belarus; Murtas Kazhgalayev of Kazakhstan, Anton Fillipov of Uzbekistan, Tamaz Gelashvili and Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran, Humpy Koneru and Chanda Sandipan of India, Tigran Kotanian of Armenia, Zhang Zhong of Singapore, Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela, Mikhail Ivanov of Russia, Wong Mengkong of Singapore, Jurabek Khamrakulov of Uzbekistan, Sebastian Maze of France, GM Vadim Malathatko of Belarus, Li Shilong of China, Dashzegve Sharavdorj of Mongolia and Das Neelotpal of India.