RP kiddies, jrs. chess tiffs slated

Slots in the Asian Juniors and ASEAN Youth chess championships and P40,000 in cash prizes and gift items are up for grabs in the Union Insurance Philippine Junior Chess Championships which start April 28 at the Ever Gotesco Commonwealth in Quezon City.

Defending boys champion National Master Darwin Laylo, who is coming off an impressive stint in the recently-concluded Millennium Chess Grand Prix, and reigning girls titlist Sherrie Joy Lomibao lead a cast which is expected to draw the country's fast-rising junior chessers.

The tournament is open to local woodpushers born 1980 and the later years.

International Master-eligible Mark Paragua might also participate if his plans of playing in the United States would not push through but other titled players expected to compete include NMs Oliver Barbosa and John Paul Gomez, Julio Catalino Sadorra and Grand Prix sensation Oliver Dimakiling.

Barbosa, the country's youngest NM at 13, Gomez and Sadorra are considered the country's best young bets for a GM title, while Dimakiling has had credible performances, the latest of which was his first round upset of GM Eugene Torre in the Chess Grand Prix.

Registration is now in full swing at the PCF headquarters, third floor, Campos Rueda Bldg, Urban Avenue, Makati City (telefax 844 7481).

Also on the the PCF program for the year is the 2000 National Kiddies Chess Championships set May 9 at the Ever Gotesco Ortigas Complex in Pasig City.

The tournament, open to players born in or after 1986, offers, aside from regular cash prizes, slots in the ASEAN and World Youth Chess Festival in Spain. Registration is also ongoing at the PCF office.