A celebration on a Filipino scale
Ekaterina Smirnova tells about the launch of the 6th ASEAN+ Men’s and Women’s Championship on the Philippine island of Mindanao
Photo by Province of Misamis Occidental.
Recently we have already written that under the program of international cooperation, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines has kindly invited the MRCF delegation to participate in this prestigious tournament. On November 2, members of the Moscow Region delegation Ekaterina Smirnova, Evgenija Ovod and Miroslav Vlasenko successfully arrived from Manila to Ozamiz City. At night of the same day, another Russian chess player Anna Zhurova arrived.
At the airport, the chess players (and a great half of the tournament arrived on these flights) were met with a big reception: members of the local chess federation held large posters, so it was impossible to make a mistake and miss your transfer.
After the big and bustling Manila, Mindanao feels peaceful. Pastoral scenery stretches along the road from the airport to the hotel: green meadows with cows grazing on them and coconut palms all around. Cows and palm trees are an interesting combination! Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to see this splendor except from the car window and take a picture.
Official hotel — a series of nice comfortable houses around the pool. Invited chess players, including the Russian delegation, live here, and we play and eat here in the great hall.
For lunch and dinner, the snack bar is of particular interest. Probably, because usually a table is allocated for snacks, but here — the whole hall!
The ASEAN+ Championship includes three tournaments: men’s, women’s and amateur (Challenger). In total, about two hundred chess players from nine countries of the world take part: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia and, of course, the Philippines.
On the first day of the competition, we had a rich program waiting for us. Early in the morning, the heads of delegations from all countries, together with the organizers of the tournament, went to the city for a big celebration — the 96th anniversary of the founding of the province of Misamis Occidental (the host city of Sinacaban is located here). I must say that the island wakes up early — the sun rises at about 5.30 am, and at 6 pm it is already dark outside the windows. So both the celebrations and the morning tours start at a slightly unusual time for Russians.
The celebration began with a large-scale and very beautiful Christian ceremony — religion is respected in Misamis. Moreover, the Philippines is the only country in Asia with a predominance of Christianity!
The main event of the holiday was the speech of the honorable Misamis Occidental Governor Henry S. Oaminal. Other prominent figures also took the floor.
Finally, we came to the chess part — after all, the opening ceremony of the ASEAN+ Championship and the First move Ceremony were planned as part of the holiday. Sahapol Nakvanich, President of the Chess Association of the Kingdom of Thailand, President of the ASEAN Chess Confederation, and Prospero Pichay, President of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, congratulated the province on its anniversary.
We did not forget to invite the team of tournament organizers to the stage.
Photo Province of Misamis Occidental.
After that, the chessboards were brought out onto the stage, and the heads of foreign chess delegations solemnly made the first moves. Moreover, two Russian women were invited to take part in the ceremony at once: the author of these lines, Ekaterina Smirnova, was accompanied by a rating-the favorite of the women’s tournament, Anna Zhurova.
Before the start of the first round, another smaller opening ceremony was held in the game hall. It was also visited by the Provincial Governor, Sahapol Nakvanic and Prospero Pichay. Members of the organizing committee spoke, and even I said a few words as a representative of distant Russia.
Photo National Chess Federation of the Philippines.
The Philippine national anthem and the last solemn words were played, and soon chess battles began on the boards. The tournament has a strict schedule — most days it is played in two rounds. By the evening of November 4 (and it’s already evening in the Philippines, 5 hours later than in Moscow), a third of the distance was covered. The best result among Russians is shown by Evgenija Ovod — with three points out of three, she shares the lead in the women’s tournament. Anna Zhurova has 2.5 points, Ekaterina Smirnova has 2, and Miroslav Vlasenko has 1.5.
The fourth and fifth rounds will be played on November 5, with a total of 9 rounds. After the classics, participants will have blitz and rapid tournaments.
