REIGNING national women’s champion Ruelle Canino will embark on a European tour with an eye at becoming the country’s next Woman Grandmaster and as part of her preparation for the FIDE World Chess Olympiad this September.
The 16-year-old Woman FIDE Master made history by becoming the youngest in recent times to rule the Philippine National Women’s Chess Championships in Malolos, Bulacan last March.
That earned Far Eastern University standout the honor of representing the country in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Thailand this October and the Olympiad set Sept. 10 to 23 in Budapest, Hungary.
Canino is scheduled to join the HZ University of Applied Sciences Chess Tournament slated Aug. 3 to 10 in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, the Dortmund Open set Aug. 10 to 18 in Germany and the Open Internacional d’escacs Santis-Ciutat de Barcelona scheduled Aug. 23 to Sept. 1 in Spain.
There, Canino, along with National Chess Federation of the Philippines chief executive officer and national women’s coach Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales, will rendezvous with teammates WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda, who have already flown to Switzerland for a tournament there.
“This is in preparation for November in AIMAG and World Olympiad in September as well as for her to become a WGM,” said Gonzales, whose trip is bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by the NCFP and Philippine Olympic Committee.
From there, Canino and the group will return to the country on Sept. 3 before leaving with the rest of the Philippine team including the men’s chessers a few days later for the biennial meet in Budapest where the planet’s cream of the crop converges.
