P100k Engr. Blas Hipulan Tournament Begins

THE 100k PESOS CHESS TOURNAMENT swiftly became an exciting event yesterday, at SM City Cebu. Sponsored by one of Cebu chess' notable sponsors, Engr. Blas Hipulan, the tournament attracted a lot of strong chess masters  in the Philippines, like IMs Oliver Dimakiling, Immanuel Emperado, and Cebu's 2nd Grandmaster, Richard Bitoon. Other notable players there were NMs Rusum Tolentino and Nelson Villanueva.

NM Nelson Villanueva (De La Salle chess coach)

In round 1, high-schooler Jethro Claro beat NM Merben Roque while another high-schooler, Daniel Lorenzo Minoza beat a +2300 player! Woww!! What a major upset in the first round! 

To get a full glimpse of the participants of this tournament, I decided to upload the starting rank list of the players:

Take note that both seeded No. 9 and No. 10 are actually FIDE Masters! While seeded #17-20 and #23 are NMs. Maybe they simply didn't want to brag about their titles?? Hmmm...  Moreover, we see the notable Marvin Ting at #44. Marvin Ting by the way, had just won the Challengers Cup at Bangkok last May. So I think he is one player that should not be taken lightly :)

Here's a photo I've taken from the lone GM participant in in the event:

GM Bitoon: "I will crush you all..."

...and here's a list of the PRIZES and MECHANICS of the event:

Remember that high-schooler I mentioned, who beat NM Roque? Well here's a pic of him.

Jethro Claro

No wonder he beat NM Merben Roque, because he has another set of eyes! (It's the eyeglasses, hehehe)

The pride of Silay City, Negros. Can you name him? Clue: He's an FM with initials S.S...

The forever interesting and eccentric NM of Cebu: Cyril Ortega (Although I must argue that the most interesting NM in the Philippines is no other than the half-crazy idiotic-genius, Victor Lluch! (Yes, you can google his name :)

    A pride of Cebu, Richard Natividad (2289)

To get the full results for the rest of the event, just click here. 
By the way, I'd like to also share an update on the Pinoy Chess Club Online Tournment (Ladies Edition!) >>>

for more details, you can look up Noel Morales @ Facebook.

  

© 2013 by Kraig Quinain