MORE than 150 para athletes will compete in the Philippine Sport Commission (PSC)-Pilipinas Para Games (PPG) Online Chess Competition which starts on November 19.
“We are launching this project to address the need for a truly comprehensive grassroots sports development program for our para athletes and continuously harness their full potential,” PSC Oversight Commissioner for para-athletes Arnold Agustin said.
Originally staged in three regional legs, the online competition will now be held in one nationwide event in six categories namely—Visually Impaired B1 Completely Blind Men, Visually Impaired B1 Completely Blind Women, Visually Impaired B2 Partially Blind Men, Visually Impaired B2 Partially Blind Women, and Physically Impaired Men and Physically Impaired Women.
The PPG is also held in partnership with the Philippine Paralympic Committee and the Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrists on the classification of registered para-athletes.
Competition starts on November 19 via Zoom, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will conclude on November 21. Winners will receive medals, certificates of excellence and cash incentives.
To prepare the national para coaches and technical officials for this competition, a Para Chess Online Technical Workshop started November 7. Grandmasters Eugene Torre, Thomas Luther and Jayson Gonzales and International Arbiters Casto Abundo and James Infiesto served as resource speakers.
“In a pandemic, we are focusing on chess as it appears to be one of the best solutions for our para-athletes to get themselves going again in sports,” Agustin said.
Registered para athletes could send their requirements to pilipinasparagames@gmail.com and its official Facebook page. The official list of participants will be announced on November 12.