CEPCA monthly tourney kicks off Sunday

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (CEPCA) monthly qualifying tournament for 2019 will commence with the joint January and February editions this Sunday at The Barracks Chess Club in Robinsons Galleria Cebu.

Aside from the club’s regular members, the 5-round Swiss system competition is also open to ladies and kiddie players.

To level the playing field, Jun Olis of the organizing CEPCA said they are applying the handicapping time control format.

Class A participants or those with NCFP (National Chess Federation of the Philippines) rating of 2000-above will be given only three minutes, while Class B entrants or those with NCFP rating of 1999-below will have 15 minutes to finish each game.

The top five winners will receive P1,500, P1,000, P700, P500 and P300, respectively.

Also, the top two finishers will advance to the year-ending grand finals also known as the ‘Battle of Champions’ in December.

Entry fee is pegged at P100 for the ladies and kiddies and P200 for CEPCA members. EBV