Shell Visayas chess listup underway

The Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship 2015 holds the second leg of its five-stage regional elims in the Visayas on July 4-5 with a maximum field of 300 expected to vie for top honors in various divisions at SM City Cebu.

Registration is ongoing. For details, call Odillon Badilles at (0933) 619-0210 or Alex Dinoy at (0918) 3705750. Interested participants may also opt to download registration forms at www.shell.com.ph/sustainability/communities/social-investment-programmes/shell-national-youth-active-chess-championship.html.

The country’s longest-running chess circuit is using a three-division tournament for the first time in 23 years as energy and gas technology leader Shell puts emphasis on the mid-teen age bracket, further expanding the base of chess talents that has grown in numbers the last few years.

“With the ever-growing number of players now taking up the sport, Shell believes in empowering the youth by giving them the opportunity to hone their skills and be the best they can,” said Shell social investment manager Jackie Ampil. “We continue to innovate our tournament programme to produce more competitive, top caliber athletes that will someday be our national pride.”

The kiddies category will feature players from 7-12 years old (born between 2003 and 2008), while the junior section will be for players aged 13-16 (born between 1999 and 2002). Players from the 17-20 age bracket (born between 1995 and 1998) will compose the seniors division.

The top two players in each section, along with the top female player, will join the other top finishers in four other qualifying legs in the national finals set in September at SM Megamall. However, the NCR elims, staged last week, staked three berths in each category outside of the lone female slot in each division of the event sponsored by Pilipinas Shell and sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the Northern Mindanao leg will be held July 18-19 at SM Cagayan de Oro Event Center with Allan Cantonjos as contact person at (0936) 996-7949 while the Southern Mindanao stage is set Aug. 8-9 on SM Davao Annex Event Center in Davao City. For details, call Ronnie Tabudlong at (0943) 249-0821.

The five-leg elims will end at SM Batangas Event Center for the Southern Luzon stage with Joselito Castro at (0906) 475-6327 as tournament leg coordinator on Aug. 15-16 while the national finals is set Sept. 19-20.

For details, contact tournament coordinator Alex Dinoy at (0918) 370-5750 or Kay Eser at (0917) 883-8039.

The annual chess circuit is backed by Shell FuelSave, Shell V-Power Nitro+, Shell Helix Oil Change Plus, Shell Citi Visa, Shell Pepeng Pasada, Shell FuelOil Plus, Shell Advance Ultra, Unilever and SM Supermalls.