A mix of young and veteran players make up the national chess team that will see action in the 30th Southeast Asian Games that the country is hosting starting Nov. 30.
Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna, Woman FIDE Master Cherry Ann Mejia, International Master Daniel Quizon and David Elorta will play in the blitz event while Catherine Secopito, WFM Shania Mae Mendoza, IM Paulo Bersamina and FIDE Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia compete in the rapid event.
Grandmasters Joey Antonio and Darwin Laylo, meanwhile, compete in the ASEAN chess event.
The selection came after accumulative results of qualifying tournaments over the past months.
The team boasts of Olympiad veterans Frayna, Secopito, Mendoza, Garcia, Bersamina, Laylo and Antonio, as well as an Asian juniors rapid chess champion in Quizon.
This year’s SEA Games will also feature demonstration events in random 960, blitz on line and puzzle.
Competing in the random 960 blitz are GMs Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales, Secopito and Frayna; blitz one line will have Garcia and Antonio; and puzzle will have Laylo, Torre, Bersamina, Frayna, Secopito and Mendoza.
The last time the sport was played in the biennial meet was in the 2013 Myanmar edition where the PH team went home with two silver and two bronzes – all coming from the male players. (Kristel Satumbaga)
