Asian Continental Chess kicks off

MANILA, Philippines — The 17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (second Manny Pacquiao Cup) starts today at the Tiara Hotel in Makati City.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who has helped fund the event, and chess president Butch Pichay will do the ceremonial moves to open the nine-round tournament staking slots in the men’s and women’s World Cup.

Heading the Asian field is last-minute entry Indian Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi.  The 24-year-old Indian is seeded third with a FIDE rating of 2702 behind Chinese GMs Wang Hao (2730) and Wei Yi (2728).

GMs John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and Joey Antonio will spearhead the country’s campaign in the men’s side while WGM Janelle Mae Frayna is the host’s best bet in the women’s section.

Other notable Filipinos joining are IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia, Haridas Pascua and Paulo Bersamina in this nine-round tournament sanctioned by the NCFP  and financed by Pacquiao and the Phl Sports Commission.

Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2689), Indians GM Baskaran Adhiban (2682) and GM S. P. Sethuraman (2664) and Chinese GM Ni Hua (2683) are the other higher-ranked foreign participants.

An outright GM title and norms will be given to the champion on top of $10,000.

China’s WGM Guo Qi and WGM Wang Jue and India’s WGM Padmini Ruot are the top three women’s seeds.

The top five finishers in the men’s side will gain spots in the World Chess Cup 2019 set Nov. 4-30 in Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia.