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Hi everyone,
MANILA, Philippines – In an interesting bit of chess news, we hear that Philippines boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has enlisted for the Asian Continental Chess Championship scheduled from May 18 to 27 at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.
Emmanuel 'Manny' Dapidran Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world boxing champion in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He is also the second highest paid athlete in the world, according to his Wikipedia profile!
Hi everyone,
Interesting chess news: World's second highest paid athlete to play chess!
MANILA, Philippines – In an interesting bit of chess news, we hear that Philippines boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has enlisted for the Asian Continental Chess Championship scheduled from May 18 to 27 at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.
Emmanuel 'Manny' Dapidran Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world boxing champion in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He is also the second highest paid athlete in the world, according to his Wikipedia profile!
Grandmaster Eugene Torre, who is co-organizing the event announced the event as the nine-round Swiss System tournament to be known as the Manny Pacquiao Chess Cup. A total cash prize of $100,000 will be up for grabs in the event that serves as the last qualifying tournament for the 2013 World Cup in August in Norway.
The top five in the men’s division and the winner in the women’s division will earn slots to the World Cup. In case previous qualifiers win or finish among the top five, then the next best player gets the slot. The Eugene Torre Chess Foundation, Inc. is organizing the event in association with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Butch Pichay, the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE.
“This will be a historic event because one of the world’s sporting icons, Manny Pacquiao, is supporting us. We will make sure it becomes a successful event,” said Torre.
Registration to the tournament is ongoing, according to Asia’s first grandmaster. He expects the top players from China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the former Soviet republics to compete.
The NCFP has already sent invitations to the different national federations, and so far Torre said there’s been a tremendous response. He added that Filipino players, the International Masters and the National Masters, are also very interested in joining the event. “We are all very excited. I hope a Filipino qualifies for the World Cup. We will be happy with one but it will be a big bonus if we get two slots,” said Torre.
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The top five in the men’s division and the winner in the women’s division will earn slots to the World Cup. In case previous qualifiers win or finish among the top five, then the next best player gets the slot. The Eugene Torre Chess Foundation, Inc. is organizing the event in association with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Butch Pichay, the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE.
“This will be a historic event because one of the world’s sporting icons, Manny Pacquiao, is supporting us. We will make sure it becomes a successful event,” said Torre.
Registration to the tournament is ongoing, according to Asia’s first grandmaster. He expects the top players from China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the former Soviet republics to compete.
The NCFP has already sent invitations to the different national federations, and so far Torre said there’s been a tremendous response. He added that Filipino players, the International Masters and the National Masters, are also very interested in joining the event. “We are all very excited. I hope a Filipino qualifies for the World Cup. We will be happy with one but it will be a big bonus if we get two slots,” said Torre.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
wow super cool - that's cool. more icons in chess!
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