48 gear up for Shell national chess

MANILA, Philippines - Forty-eight players, who emerged from the tough nationwide eliminations in the last four months, will slug it out for top honors in the juniors and kiddies divisions at the 2010 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship (Shell Active Chess) grand finals on Oct. 23-24 at SM Megamall’s Event Center in Mandaluyong.

Vince Angelo Medina hopes to complete his leap from a kiddies titlist to a juniors champion as he slugs it out with 23 others for the crown in the premier 20-and-under category of the nine-round finals sponsored by Pilipinas Shell.

Medina topped the 14-and-under category in runaway fashion last year and went on to rule the juniors division of the Tuguegarao leg last July to clinch a spot in this year’s national finals of the Shell Active Chess program. He is one of the eight crack FEU bets vying for the titles in both categories although a host of others, including those from San Sebastian (SSC), La Salle, Rizal Technological University (RTU) and University of San Jose-Recoletos and Univ. of San Carlos-Cebu (USC) will be out to foil his bid.