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.
President Rodrigo Duterte is back in public following a two-week absence that fuelled speculations about his health. The president of the Philippines addressed the nation on April 12, dismissing talk about his supposed health problems. Addressing his critics, Duterte said they should “pray harder” if they want him to ...
The annual North Shore Art Crawl is live! Now is the time to explore the artists of Vancouver’s North Shore, for audiences local and far-away. North Van Arts is proud to launch the 2021 Online North Shore Art Crawl as a month-long virtual event from March 12 – April ...
Jessy Mendiola is now officially Mrs. Manzano! Celebrity couple Jessy Mendiola and Luis Manzano on Sunday revealed that they are already married. Mendiola made the confirmation through a 5-minute video posted on her Youtube channel, as well as a post on her Instagram page. The video showed the couple’s ...
Leave a Reply