FM PASCUA, WNM BERNALES VYING ASIAN JUNIOR CHESS TILT IN INDIA

FIDE MASTER Haridas Pascua  and Woman National Master Cristy Lamiel Bernales, both raring to go when the tough and prestigious 2010 Asian Junior  boys and girls  chess championships scheduled June 15-23  at the Vijay Park and  Business Hotel  in Arrumbakkan in Chennai, India.
Pascua is seeded 17th in the 72-player field, while Bernales is ranked No. 15 in the 53-players girls division in the prestigious, nine-round  tournament hosted by the All-India Chess Federation  in cooperation with the Tamilnado State Chess Association and Sports Promotion Foundation.
The two Filipino players left for Chennai yesterday, accompanied  by National Chess  Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) executive/events director Willie Abalos.
“It will be another big challenge for our players, especially Haridas. Most of the top Asian players  20 years old and below are vying in the tournament, ” said Abalos, who was personally tapped by NCFP president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. to lead the  three-man Filipino delegation.
“Both Haridas and Christy had very good preparations when they competed in the ‘Phoenix Petroleum Battle of GMs’ national chess championship  held in Tagaytay City and the ASEAN + age-group chess championships in Subic  only recently,” explained  Abalos.
Both Pascua and Bernales failed to win a medal, but gained valuable  experience in competing in both  strong tournaments.
IM B. ,Adhiban of India is the top seed  in the boys division with an ELO of 2510, followed by IM Gujrathi Vidjt with ELO of  2504 and IM Babu Lalith with ELO of 2493.
The other prominent players entered are Pouria Darini of  Iran, FM Berik Akkozov of Kazakshtan,  FM Semetey Tologontegin of Kyrgyztan,  Weilliang Tan of Singapore, Timothy Capel of Malaysia, P.K. Jayasundara of Sri Lanka,  Vahid  Faramarzi of Iran and Taione Sikivou of Fiji.
In the girls division, the top five seeds are WIM Rout Padmini of India, Kulkhami Bhakti  of India,    WFM  Mitra Hejazipour of Iran, WFM Gulishkan Nakhbayeva of Kazakhstan and WIM Shalmali Gagare of India.
The first round is scheduled  at 9:30 a..m on Tuesday.

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO