Antonio leads RP campaign in Subic chessfest

MANILA, Philippines – GM Rogelio “Joey" Antonio, Jr., the lone Filipino qualifier to the World Chess Cup, spearheads the local campaign in the 2nd Subic Open international chess championship which blasts off Monday at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center. Antonio is fresh from his joint third finish at the Asian Continental individual chess championship, a qualifying event to the prestigious World Chess Cup slated in Russia later this year. GM Jayson Gonzales, the winner of the inaugural Subic Open last year, and the country’s top 2 ranked players GMs Wesley So and Eugene Torre are also expected to compete in this nine-round competition which offers US$30,000. Joining them are GMs John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo, Mark Paragua and Bong Villamayor; IMs Julio Catalino Sadorra, Oliver Dimakiling, Richard Bitoon, Rolando Nolte and Ronald Bancod; and fast-rising Jan Emmanuel Garcia. GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, who topped the Asian Continental individual chess championship which ended last Saturday, and Yu Yangyi, who finished a surprise third, head the foreign bidders. Aside from Ganguly, Yu and their compatriots from India and China, respectively, representatives from Iran, Mongolia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh will also be competing in the tournament. –GMANews.TV