Europe-based Filipino Joseph Sanchez, the former coach of GM Mark Paragua, will become the country’s 11th GM in April. National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Butch Pichay Jr. made the announcement recently after FIDE released the titles it approved during its first quarter presidential board meeting last March 5-8 in Istanbul, Turkey.“I’m proud and happy to announce that we have a new grandmaster in Joseph Sanchez,” said Pichay. The 39-year-old Sanchez clinched his third and final GM norm by finishing third in Group A of the third International Open “Pierre et Vacances” in Cannes, France where he scored 6.5 points in nine rounds.
Sanchez was actually leading in the final round but lost to Moroccan GM Hichem Hamdouchi and settled for joint third with three others. Hamdouchi went on to tie for first with French GM Christian Bauer, whom Sanchez trounced in the third round. Sanchez will thus join the elite circle of RP chess players, including Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio, Bong Villamayor, Nelson Mariano II, Paragua, Wesley So, Darwin Laylo, Jayson Gonzales and John Paul Gomez and the late Rosendo Balinas Jr.Sanchez, who will also become the first Cebuano GM, is currently ranked 12th in the country with a 2461 rating and should jump inside the top 10 after he gained 21.6 points in the first quarter of the year. Two more Filipinos – Virgilio Vuelban and Kim Steven Yap – will also obtain their International Master titles when FIDE releases its new rating list and titles on April 1.
Vancouver, BC – September 16, 2023 – Christmas comes early in Metro Vancouver as the Filipino- Canadian community will be in for a treat to the first Kumukuti-kutitap: Paskong Pinoy 2023. The main event will highlight the Parol-Making Workshop to be hosted by the New Westminster Philippine Festival Society. ...
This year, 2 films telling stories of Filipino characters are playing at the upcoming Vancouver International Film Festival. Paris Zarcilla’s Raging Grace and Seán Devlin’s Asog will be shown during the 42nd edition of VIFF! The Vancouver International Film Festival is one of the 5 largest film festivals in ...
New measures are coming to B.C. that will help create more housing as the Province speeds up permitting and helps build more secondary suites for rent. “People in our province deserve a decent place to live they can actually afford to rent or buy, but a chronic housing shortage ...
Netflix Philippines drops first-ever Station ID featuring Donny Pangilinan, Belle Mariano, other stars Netflix Philippines is celebrating Christmas early this year as the streaming service released its Christmas-themed Station ID via its social media channels on Monday, September 18. The video—titled “Kumukutikutitap ang Mga Bituin sa Brgy. Netflix!“— features ...
Available only on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel Mondays will always be on a high as viewers worldwide can now enjoy binge-watching ABS-CBN’s trending mystery-thriller series, “Senior High” starring Andrea Brillantes, which is now available for free and on-demand only on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel. Kapamilyas in the US, Canada, ...
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