Pinoy aces ready for World Chess Cup

Ready and confident. That's how GM Wesley So and two other highly-rated Filipino players describe their condition for the World Chess Cup that is set to start Nov. 21 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. So, GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. and Darwin Laylo left the country at 7 a.m. Thursday via Vietnam Airlines, exactly two days before the first round of the prestigious 128-player tournament organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

"We're ready. We've been preparing long and hard for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play against the world's best," said Antonio, the most-experienced player in the three-man Filipino delegation in the knockout-style tournament. Venue of the six-stage tournament is the Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts in Khanty-Mansiysk, a Scandinavian-like resort town situated in Western Siberia. The opening ceremony is scheduled on Nov. 20, while the opening match of the first round begins the following day. So, the country's highest-rated player with an ELO of 2640, gets his baptism of fire in the world's biggest chess stage against GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan. The 15-year-old pride of St. Francis College-Cavite is seeded 59th overall, while Guseinov is ranked 70th. Antonio (ELO 2574) and Laylo (ELO 2552) will play a pair of experienced and higher-rated opponents. Antonio, who earned a berth to this prestigious tournament with his strong showing in the Asian Individual Chess Championship held in Subic early this year, will battle No. 27 GM Gata Kamsky of the US in one of 64 first-round matches. Laylo, who clinched his second straight trip to the World Cup by topping the Asian Zone 3.3 championship in Vietnam also this year, will challenge No. 21 seed GM David Navara of the Czech Republic. Top seed GM Boris Gelfand of Israel opens his campaign against IM Andrei Obodchuk of Russia in the Wimbledon-style knockout matches. Second seed GM Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan will meet IM Walaa Sarwat of Egypt while third seed GM Peter Svidler of Russia will take on IM Jean Hebert of Candada. Other notable first-round matches will pit No. 4 GM Alexander Morozevich of Russia against IM Khaled Abdel Rzik of Egypt; No. 5 GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan against IM Mohamed Ezat of Egypt; No. 6 GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine against GM Alexei Bezgrodov of Russia; No. 7 GM Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine against GM Essam El Gindy of Egypt; No. 8 GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia against IM Jha Smiram of India; No. 9 GM Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia against GM Aimen Rizouk of Algeria; and No. 10 GM Wang Yue of China against GM Nikolai Kabanov of Russia. Reigning women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia will also try her luck against No. 13 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, while world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta of India will battle GM Nikita Vitiguv of Russia and GM Ahmed Adly of Egypt will clash with GM Viktor Bologan of Moldova. Format Based on the tournament format, the players will play two games each on Nov. 20 and 21 with the winner advancing to the second round on Nov. 24. Tiebreaks, if necessary, will be played on Nov. 23. The second round is scheduled on Nov. 24-25, while the third round will be played on Nov. 27-28. Only 64 players will advance to the second round and 32 to the third round. The field will be further reduced to 16 players in the fourth round before the top eight players will meet in the quarterfinal phase of this tournament being held to determine the challenger to the world chess championship. The top two players after the sixth round will then dispute the World Cup in four games scheduled Dec. 10-13. - GMANews.TV