HD Bank Cup Open

FILIPINO Grandmaster (GM) Roland “Kulot” Salvador tops the list of contenders in the 1st HD Bank Cup Open Chess Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Today will be the start of technical meeting while round 1 begins tomorrow. The tournament runs until Jan. 9.

“I hope to do well in this event,” said PH no.3 Salvador, whose Elo Fide rating is 2,533. “My aim is to get Elo Fide rating points here in Vietnam,” added the former Rizal Technological University (RTU) standout now playing under the banner of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President/ Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.

The tournament shall be conducted as a Swiss System competition of 9 rounds and will be played according to FIDE regulations. The time control is 90 minutes for the whole game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Other top PH woodpushers in the tournament are GMs Darwin Laylo, John Paul Gomez, IMs Richard Bitoon, Oliver Barbosa, Kim Steven Yap and Oliver Dimakiling, FM Haridas Pascua, NMs Emmanuel Senador and Egdar Reggie Olay, Rodolfo Panopio Jr. and Merben Roque.

Among the renowned players vying for the top prize of $6,000 are GMs Le Quang Liem (2689), Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2628) and Cao Sang (2547) of Vietnam, GMs Yu Yangyi (2606), Zhao Jun (2606) and Zhou Weiqi (2595) of China.

/Correspondent Marlon Bernardino