So faces toughest 'Battle of GMs' cast

Manila, Philippines - The cream of Philippine chess headed by World Cup-bound Grandmaster Wesley So will play in the 2011 National Championship dubbed “Battle of GMs” which unfurls tomorrow at the National Press Club auditorium in Manila.

The 17-year-old So, the country’s highest ranked player with an Elo rating of 2658, guns for a fourth straight championship in this event organized by chess chief Butch Pichay and backed by Pilipinas Shell, Waterfront Hotel and Casino, Philippine Sports Commission and NPC.

So, however, is expected to face a stiffer opposition as organizers have assembled the strongest cast of local chess stars including nine GMs plus some GM candidates.

“It’s the strongest local GM tournament we’ve organized and we expect top-notch chess action,” said Pichay in yesterday’s press launch at the NPC office.

The other GMs seeing action are Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio, Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo, John Paul Gomez, US-based Banjo Barcenilla and Europe-based Roland Salvador and Joseph Sanchez with International Masters Oliver Barbosa, Jan Emmanuel Garcia, Rolando Nolte and Yves Ranola completing the cast.

A total cash pot worth P630,000 is at stake with P150,000 going to the men’s champion and P40,000 to the winner of the women’s division, which drew 12 participants including WIMs Catherine Perena and Beverly Mendoza.

“Anything can happen in chess,” said So, who trained and played some chess with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Denmark in Spain early this year.

“Although I’m playing bad lately, I will do my best to bounce back from it because I really love playing chess,” he added.