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By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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ILOILO City – Chess Grand Master Rogelio “Joey” Antonio graced the opening day of the very first Negros Open Chess Tournament on Wednesday, kicking off the fanfare at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod City.
Antonio has played many times for the Philippine Olympiad team, most notably claiming silver with the 2010 Asian Games delegation.
The event running from Oct. 12 to 16 is also expected to see action from Grand Masters Darwin Laylo and Ronald Dableo, as well as other notable chess champions from around the country.
Organized by the A&V Negros Chess Club Association, Inc. in cooperation with the Piaya Network Broadcasting Corporation and First Community Bank Inc., the competition seeks to propagate Negros as a breeding ground for high level chess tournaments and attract top national and foreign players to the island region.
More than P100,000 in prizes is up for grabs in the National Chess Federation of the Philippines-sanctioned tournament, with the champion expected to go home P50,000 richer.
Also competing are International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling, IM Ronald Dableo, IM Emmanuel “Manny” Senador, IM Richelieu Salcedo III, IM Chito Garma, as well as Bacolod City’s IM Joel Pimentel Jr., and Fide Master Sander Severino of Silay City.
A&V Negros Chess Club was founded by Antonio Ivan Aguirre and Hugo Villanueva, both chess champions and active members of the Negros sports community./PN
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