Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Wesley So Solidifies ELO Rating, Climbs to 40th Place

The Philippine's highest ranked chess player in history recently landed at the 40th spot in the recent FIDE Rating List for the month of May. 

Full Report can be seen here: 

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Teen Azkals Needs To Have More Bite, Drawn with tough foes in U-16, U-19 qualifiers


The Philippine national Under-16 and Under-19 football teams, also known as the Teen Azkals, will compete against tough opponents when they play in two tournaments in Asia this year.

The U-16 squad will participate in qualifiers for the age group’s championship in the Asian Football Confederation, playing in Group J alongside regional football powerhouse Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Aside from the Philippines, 42 countries will participate in the tournament that has been divided into 10 groups. The winner of each group, as well as the five best runners-up, will qualify for the 2014 AFC Under-16 Championship in Thailand.

The best four teams in the AFC U-16 Championship will represent Asia in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Chile in 2015.

The Philippines’ U-19 team will face defending champion South Korea, host Indonesia, Laos and Guam in Group G in the qualifiers for the age group’s championship.

Also a football powerhouse in Asia, South Korea clinched the AFC U-19 crown last year towin its 12th title since the competition began in 1959.

40 countries will take part in the qualifiers, which is divided into nine groups. The top teams from each group and the six best second-placed teams will join host Myanmar in the AFC U-19 Championship in October next year.

The top four teams in the AFC U-19 Championship will then advance to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand in 2015.



Monday, April 22, 2013

Filipino GMs tackle foreign bets in rich Pacquiao Cup


THE COUNTRY’S top players, led by super Grandmaster Wesley So, will join the $100,000 Manny Pacquiao Cup Asian Continental Open and Women’s Chess Championships set May 18 to 26 at Midas Hotel in Pasay City.

Other Filipino GMs competing against a crack foreign field are Oliver Barbosa, Mark Paragua, Rogelio Antonio Jr., John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and Richard Bitoon.

Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre remains undecided as the nine-round event dangling a record purse coincides with a Fide trainers seminar to be conducted by GM Efstratios Grivas of Greece who needs his assistance from May 20-24.

The top five finishers of the Open division will advance to the World Cup scheduled in August in Tromso, Norway while the women’s champion will advance to the 2014 Women’s World Championship.

So, the first Filipino to break the 2700 Elo barrier, and Barbosa are assured of slots in the 128-player World Cup, but will join the hunt for the juicy  purses, the biggest ever for the event.

Barbosa finished in the top five in last year’s Asian Continental in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, while So qualified by way of the Asian 3.3 Zonal staged by Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino last January in Tagaytay City.

The Manny Pacquiao Cup is organized by the Eugene Torre Chess Foundation under the auspices of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines headed by Prospero A. Pichay Jr., the Asian Chess Federation and the World Chess Federation (Fide)

The Philippines previously hosted the Asian Continental in Cebu City in 2007 and Subic Bay in 2009 and 2010. Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan will be the guest of honor during the opening of the event.

For details, call Pat Lee at  09277209260 or e-mail ncfpsecretariat2012@gmail.com. For seminar inquiries, call Elias Lao at 09262378876. Roy Luarca



Sunday, April 14, 2013

Donaire Loses the Running Affair to Rigo in a Boxing Match


NEW YORK—Without missing a beat, Top Rank big boss Bob Arum said Nonito Donaire Jr. should move up to a heavier division to avoid the trouble of making weight each time he fights.

The most successful boxing promoter of his generation noted that “trouble in making the weight” led to Donaire’s loss to Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux in their world super bantamweight title unification bout Saturday here.

Hardly affected by a 10th-round knockdown, Rigondeaux easily added Donaire’s WBO title to his WBA crown by unanimous decision.

Arum, speaking at ringside at the posh Radio City Music Hall, said Donaire was in sweat shirt still trying to shed pounds hours before the official weigh-in and during the fighters’ meeting Friday.

“He’s got to move up in weight,” Arum told reporters at press box after the fight. “I mean, he apparently blew off the fighters’ meeting with his sweat shirt on and he had to get out and make the weight.”

Donaire, fighting in his fourth weight class, tipped the scales at 121.6 pounds Friday and entered the ring Saturday at 129, his heaviest ever.

In separate interviews, Donaire trainer Robert Garcia and manager Cameron Dunkin said they are inclined to move to 126 for the next fight, probably in early October. The team wants Donaire to have a third fight by December.

“We don’t have any decision yet but it’s something we are looking at,” said Garcia of Donaire’s possible move as a full-pledged featherweight.

Meanwhile, Arum said he didn’t know Donaire has a shoulder injury which the fighter said would require surgery.

“This is the first time I heard about it,” he said.

Arum, also a Rigondeaux co-promoter, said the bout “was not a very engaging fight” since the Cuban kept on running away.

“Rigondeaux has a lot of power, and he has lots of movement and lots of skill,” said Arum. “But he keeps running away. That really will make it a not-watchable fight. It’s not a very pleasing style he has.”

He said he had Donaire ahead on points after that 10th round, when the Filipino Flash floored the Cuban dubbed as the “Jackal.’’

“And then I gave Rigo the 11th and 12, that was the fight. I had a one-point fight. He (Donaire) clearly lost the last two rounds,’’ he added.


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Azkals reach highest FIFA world ranking anew


The Philippines reached its highest FIFA world ranking again at no. 143, a spot it last held in November 2012, according to the international football body's update on Thursday
 
After topping the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers with a close win over Turkmenistan and a demolition of Cambodia, the Azkals rose two spots from their March 2013 ranking.
 
In Asia, however, the Philippines dropped one spot to be the continent's 24th-best team after Kyrgyzstan climbed a whopping 59 places, earning the 142nd top slot worldwide, ahead of the Azkals.
 
Spain remains to be the top football team in the world, while Japan is still the number one team in Asia. - GMA News