All eyes on Sadorra, Laylo in Pacquiao Asian chess on Saturday

by Marlon Bernardino

US-based GM Julio Catalino Sadorra and Darwin Laylo will lead a contingent of Filipino wood pushers to the $100,000 Manny Pacquiao Cup Asian Continental Open and Women's Chess Championships on Saturday at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.

"Malaking factor yung magtulungan for the game preparation against foreign counterpart para makapasok sa main draw ng World Cup," said Sadorra, a senior year  Business Administration focus on Entrepreneurship student at Jindal School of Management (JSOM) in University of Texas Dallas.

"Gagawin namin ang best para makapasok sa World Cup," added Laylo.

The tournament is held under the auspices of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines headed by it's Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., Asian Chess Federation and FIDE, and organized by the Eugene Torre Chess Foundation.

The top five qualify to the 2013 World Chess Cup scheduled on August 10 to September 5 in Tromso, Norway. Filipino Grandmasters Wesley So and Oliver Barbosa are the early qualifiers. Barbosa finished in the top five in last year's Asian Continental in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam while So qualified from the Zonal Championship organized by NCFP Secretary-General Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino last January in Tagaytay City. The Asian Women's champion advances to the 2014 Women's World Championship tournament. Last year's Asian women's champion was Irene Sukandar of Indonesia.

Sadorra and Laylo will join comrades GMs Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr., Mark Paragua, John Paul Gomez, Richard Bitoon, International Masters (IMs) Rolandon Nolte, Emmanuel Senador, Barlo Nadera, as well National Master Ronald Llavanes, among others.

Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan is  expected to make the ceremonial moves during the formal opening ceremony, along with Sarangani rep. and Philippine boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, NCFP president/chairman   Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. and Asian  Zone 3.3  president NCFP secretary-general and newly-elected 7th district Cavite rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino Jr. 

Also expected to grace the opening  ceremony are NCFP executive director GM Jayson Gonzales, NCFP deputy-secretary general and treasurer Red Dumuk and  Asia’s first IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso.

Concurrent with the championship will be a FIDE Trainers Seminar on May 20-24, organized by the Florencio Campomanes Chess Academy under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation and conducted by FIDE Trainers Commission Secretary GM Efstratios Grivas of Greece and GM Eugene Torre. Asia's first grandmaster was recently conferred the FIDE Senior Trainer title, the only FST in Southeast Asia.