National chessers vie in Olympiad less Antonio

MANILA, Philippines - The 10-man Philippine chess team, minus its No. 2 man, headed last night for Russia where it competes with the world’s best in the World Chess Olympiad which gets under way tomorrow in Khanty-Mansiysk.

The Filipinos, led by grandmasters Wesley So and Eugene Torre, left for Doha, Qatar before heading to Dubai where they will join the other Olympiad participants for a seven-hour chartered flight to the oil-producing autonomous region in Western Siberia.

The Filipinos will be among 1,400 players from 158 countries competing in the two-week event.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will grace the opening rites of the biennial event on Sept. 20 at the Ugra Sports Complex.

The first round is set Sept. 21 while the 11th and final round will be played on Oct. 3.

The other team members are GMs Darwin Laylo and John Paul Gomez and IM Richard Bitoon, who took over the spot of GM Joey Antonio, who was dropped from the roster for failing to compete in two local tournaments.

The women’s squad is made up of Cheradee Chardine Camacho, Catherine Perena,  Shercila Cua, Rulp Ylem Jose and Jedara Docena.

Armenia will seek its third straight title in the men’s division. It will be led by GMs Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian and Gabriel Sargissian.

Out to foil its bid are Russia 1, headed by GMs Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk, Russia 2, Russia 3, Ukraine and China.

The Philippines is seeded 38th.

In the women’s division, Georgia will defend the title it won in Dresden two years ago with the Philippines ranked No. 50.