Manila may bid for Chess Olympiad

Manila bids for Chess Olympiad, Asian Zonal
abs-cbnNEWS.com 08/05/2009 5:35 PM

MANILA – The Philippines might again be the site of the prestigious World Chess Olympiad and the Asian Zonal Chess Championships in the near future as the country opens its bid to host the two tournaments.

Grandmaster (GM) Rogelio “Joey” Antonio, who has played many times for the Philippine Olympiad Team, said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) chief Prospero Pichay is pushing hard to host the competitions in RP.

“Nagbi bid si Cong. Pichay (Prospero Pichay) para sa World Chess Olympiad at Asian Zonal na muling mag host ang ating bansa,” he said.

Antonio along with fellow GMs Eugene Torre and Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor, are the founder of the NCFP which replaced the defunct Philippine Chess Federation.

“Malaking tulong ito sa ating bansa pag dito ginamit muli ang World Chess Olympiad at Asian Zonal lalo na sa ating turismo,” said Antonio, the first of only three Filipinos to qualify in the World Cup 2009 (FIDE World Chess Championships). The other two are GMs Wesley So and Darwin Laylo.

The country hosted the 30th World Chess Olympiad in 1992 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City with no less than the late former president Corazon “Tita Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino leading the opening rites.

The 2001 Asian Zonal Chess Championships, on the other hand, was at the Grand Boulevard Hotel along Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

The Asian Zonal is the qualification tournament for the individual World Cup 2009 while the World Chess Olympiad is a team competition of nations throughout the world.

Marlon Bernardino
as of 08/05/2009 5:35 PM

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com