MANILA, Philippines – Grand Masters (GMs) Oliver Barbosa, Rogelio Antonio Jr., Mark Paragua, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and Richard Bitoon will be seeing action in the 3rd HD Bank Cup International Open Chess Tournament on March 19-24 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

“We’ll be up against strong and more seasoned players in this tournament, and I hope my luck continues there,” said Barbosa, who has earned a spot in this year’s World Chess Cup.

“Right now, I’m deep in prepration, doing more practice games with my fellow GMs. It’s also a good opportunity to hone my skills as part of my build-up for the World Chess Cup,” he added.

Paragua, on the other hand, also expressed his readiness to compete against some of the world’s best GMs in the event, which offers a $30,000 cash prize.

“It’s one of the most challenging tournaments for us, because all of the best GMs are expected to be there. We’ll just play one game at a time. Every round is important,” Paragua said.

Aside from the GMs, other Filipino chessers who will see action in the Vietnam tournarment are: International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling, Fide Master (FM) David Elorta, FM Haridas Pascua, FM Paulo Bersamina, National Master (NM) Stewart Manaog, NM Nelson Mendoza and Jimson Bitoon.

The top seeds in the tournament are GMs Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and Ferenc Berkes of Hungary.

The Filipino woodpushers are being supported by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. -- By Marlon Bernardino