Stay at Home chessfest shifts to “Team Battle” for 7th leg

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu School of Chess shifts to “Team Battle” for the seventh leg of its monthly Stay at Home Chess Challenge set for October 17-18 on lichess.org.

Event organizer International Master Kim Steven Yap, however, said the two-day tilt backed up by Chess Infinitum Inc. headed by its president Benjamin “Boojie” Lim is open only to Cebuano and Cebu-based players.

As for the tournament rules and format, each team must have only three members with an average NCFP (National Chess Federation of the Philippines) rating of no more than 2050. Unrated players will have a base rating of 1800 when calculating for the average rating.

Only the first 50 teams to register will be accommodated. They will be divided into five brackets of 10 teams each. Teams will be randomly shuffled to a designated bracket.

They will then see action in the elimination round on October 17. The top two teams per bracket will proceed to the finals the following day where they are ensured at the top 10. The third best scoring team in each bracket will be placed 11-15th.

In the finals, all 10 teams will play a new round.

The champion will take home P9,000, with the second to third placers pocketing P6,000 and P3,000, respectively. The fourth and fifth will pocket P1,500 each while the sixth to 15th will get a consolation prize of P600.

The top ladies, kiddies (14-under) and seniors (60-above) will claim a P500 bonus. Also, the best female and best kiddie will head to the grand finals in December.

Fans will also have a chance to win cash prizes if they watch the games live on the Cebu School of Chess Facebook page with Yap and fellow IM Oliver Dimakiling as hosts.

Entry fee is pegged at 300 per team. Those who will register after October 14 will be assessed with P500.

For more details, one may contact IM Kim Yap at 0977-6864660 or via m.me/kimsteven.yap.