2nd Wesley So Cup kicks off Saturday

MANILA, Philippines — The Wesley So Cup – the import-laden second conference in the second season of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines – kicks off Saturday, May 21.

Twenty-four teams with 12 squads in the north and 12 teams in the south will vie for the trophy that is graciously donated by the Filipino-American Super Grandmaster, Wesley So.

All division squads will compete in a double round robin with inter-division play spicing up the middle of the tournament. The elimination round will go all the way up to July 22 with the play-in beginning on July 23 and the play-offs proper on July 27. The Grand Finals that pits the best of the north and the south will be held on August 6.

Defending champions Iloilo Kisela Knights, with Armenian GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan in harness, will take on guest squad Philippine Chess League in the opening game.

The San Juan Predators, recent All-Filipino Cup Champions, look to annex the Wesley So Cup to complete their trophies. They were also Open Conference champions from last season.

The Predators with Ukrainian GM Viktor Moskalenko back for another run, take on the Mindoro Tamaraws who are reinforced by Vietnamese NM Nhat Min To.

Southern challenger Davao Chess Eagles, reinforced by recently transferee GM Darwin Laylo will battle Tacloban.

The Caloocan LoadManna Knights hope that the addition of IM Chito Garma will add some balance to a line-up that has mostly underachieved. They will battle the Quezon City Simba’s Tribe.

The opening ceremony for the Wesley So Cup will be held via Zoom at 6 p.m. with the matches beginning around 7:30 p.m. All the matches can be viewed on streaming on the Facebook page of PCAP as well as the respective team FB pages.