CAGAYAN de Oro will be hosting a dry run of the biggest chess tournament in Mindanao set to unfold this year in Ozamiz City.

Tentatively set on November 4 and 5 at a mall in Cagayan de Oro, it will serve as a finale of a series of pre-Ozamiz promotional events under the banner of the Rising Chess Unlimited Development Program.

The Cagayan de Oro leg, unlike the previous one held in Butuan City on September 24, will have a similar format to the forthcoming Ozamiz Chess Festival.

All team members in the three-board rivalry will play in the Individual Open of which scores will be totaled to determine the team winners in a very economical way.

ON TARGET. Governor Henry S. Oaminal says the relatively short Filipinos’ inherent talent in the Game of Kings is what encouraged him to mount an all-out support for chess development in Misamis Occidental province. Photo by Lynde Salgados

It will also have a separate championship for the elementary category with cash prizes and medals awaiting the winners.

“Medyo mag-innovate lang ta gamay or differ a little from Ozamiz aron maka bawi-bawi sa expenses. So, instead of 2100, himoon natong 2000 ang team average rating para daghan makaapil. Imbis 13-under lang, welcome ang kiddies basta elementary tanan,” said computer pairing analyst Arian Belly Calido.

Arena Grandmaster Rey Urbiztondo said the seven-in-one tourney in Ozamiz dubbed as 1st Governor Henry S. Oaminal Chess Festival is the first ever in the country to be slated on November 10-12 at the City Auditorium of Ozamiz City, offering P500,000 in total cash prizes plus trophies and medals.

“Gitawag kini’g 7-in-1 kay aside sa rapid and blitz individual open and team championships, aduna usab kita'y simultaneous exhibition display ni Asia's first Grandmaster Eugene Torre nga mohatag usab og lecture sa mga kabataan. Naa sab ang showdown between the best of Mindanao and Visayas chess players, ingon man ang exciting nga Armageddon Battle of Philippine Champions ug uban pa,” Urbiztondo told Gold Star Daily.

In promoting the Ozamiz Festival, the nationwide Rising Chess Unlimited tourneys will also be held in Davao (Oct 7), Cebu City (Oct 14), General Santos City (Oct 21), and Metro Manila at Robinson's Galleria Ortigas on Oct 29 before the Cagayan de Oro dry run on November 10-12.