Bambol Tagaytay City Mayor Bambol Tolentino (left) and Cavite Gov. Athena Tolentino.

Tagaytay to host top players in Asian Juniors chessfest

October 11, 2024 Ed Andaya 491 views

TAGAYTAY — Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and his daughter, Cavite Gov. Athena Tolentino, are expected to grace the opening ceremony of the 2024 Asian Juniors and Girls Chess Championships at the Knights Templar Hotel here Saturday.

The father and daughter tandem is hosting the prestigious, nine-round Swiss system tournament being organized by the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) for players 20 years old and below from Zones 3.1 to 3.8 only.

Top seeds in the boys and girls divisions are GM Aleksey Grebnev of Russia, who boasts of an ELO rating of 2530, and WIM G. Tejaswini of India, who carries an ELO of 2207.

Both Grebnev and Tejashwini, who topped the events in Jamshedpur, India last year, will defend their titles.

Also in the boys division are No. 2 IM Krishna S Rohith (ELO 2474) of India, No.; 3 IM S. Aswath (ELO 2473) of India, No. 4 IM Artem Uskov (ELO 2428) of Russia, and No. 5 CM Khuong Duy Dau (ELO 2422) of Vietnam,

World Cup campaigner IM Michael Concio is the highest-ranked Filipino player at No. 8 seed with an ELO 2368.

Joining him are FM Christian Gian Karlo Arca (ELO 2199), seeded No. 12; AFM Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa (ELO 2076), seeded No. 13; Davin Sean Romualdez (ELO 1939), seeded No. 16 ; Phil Martin Casiguran (ELO 1936), seeded No. 17; and Yuri Lei Paraguya (ELO 1887), seeded 19th.

With Tejaswini in the girls section are No. 2 WIM Anna Shukhman (ELO 2163) of Russia; No. 3 WIM Zeinep Sultanbek (ELO 2150) of Kazakhstan; No. 4 WIM Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana (ELO 2069) of Sri Lanka.

The three Filipina players entered are WFM Jemaicah Yap Mendoza, seeded No. 13 with an ELO of 1819, Apple Rubin, seeded No. 16 with an ELO of 1635, and Arleah Cassandra Sapuan, seeded No. 18 with ELO of 1587.

In all, a total of 52 players — 31 boys and 21 girols — are seeing action in the competition.

As in all major international sports events, all Russian players will play under the neutral flag of FIDE.

The opening ceremony is scheduled at 10 a.m., Saturday followed by the seven-round rapid chess championship.

The first round of the standard chess competition will begin at 9 a.m.on Sunday.

The second and third rounds are scheduled at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday.

The complete playing schedule:

Fourth round, Tuesday, Oct, 15.

Fifth and sixth rounds, Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Seventh round, Thursday, Oct. 17.

Eighth round, Friday, Oct. 18.

Ninth round, Saturday, Oct. 19.

The blitz tournament will also be held on Saturday, Oct, 19 , followed by the closing ceremony later in the day.

Six Filipinos, led by two-time champion GM Rogelio Barcenilla, Jr. have won the Asian Juniors since its inception in Baguio City in 1977.

The United States-based Barcenilla captured the championship in 1989 in Dubai, UAE and 1991 in Kozhikode, India.

Other past Filipino Asian juniors champions are Domingo Ramos (1980, Baguio), Ricardo de Guzman (1981, Dhaka), Marlo Micayabas (1982, Baguio), Enrico Sevillano (1986, Manila), and Nelson Mariano (1994, Shah Alam)

No Filipino players, however, managed to win the Asian Juniors again, with India winning 17 of the next 26 editions from 1995 to 2023.

Last year, Grebnev bagged the championship after scoring seven out of nine points in the 2023 edition held in Jamshedpur, India.

S. Aswath and Rohith Krishna , both of India, took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

The girls’ tournament was won by Tejaswini from India with 7.5 points, while M. Bristy finished second with 7 points.

IA Patrick Lee is the chief arbiter, with IA Ricky Navalta as deputy chief arbiter and Michael Joseph Pagaran, Dr. Fred Paez, Hubert Estrella and Byron Villar as arbiters.

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