World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura set for Manila chess event

FILE–US chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. (Photo by BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP)

A pair of American Grandmasters, led by World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, will headline the inaugural WR Bughouse Championship set for June 1 and 2 at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Nakamura, who currently owns a live rating of 2792 to rank second in the world behind Magnus Carlsen, will team up with Germany’s Wadim Rosenstein in the two-day tournament.

Rosenstein is also the founder of WR Chess, which is organizing the event featuring a total prize pool of $100,000, or around P6.1 million.

Another American standout, GM Awonder Liang, currently ranked No. 33 in the world, is also joining the field and will be among those eyeing the top prize worth $50,000.

The runner-up will receive $20,000, while third and fourth placers will earn $10,000 and $6,000, respectively. Teams finishing from fifth to eighth place will pocket $2,000 each, while ninth to 20th placers will get $500 apiece.

A total of 53 teams have already qualified for the tournament, including several Filipino tandems bannered by GM Daniel Quizon and IM Eric Labog, GM Darwin Laylo and FM David Elorta, IMs Pau Bersamina and Jem Garcia, and WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WIM Ruelle Canino.

The competition will use a 12-round elimination format, with the top eight teams advancing to the knockout playoffs.

Bughouse, also known as transfer chess, follows standard chess rules except that captured pieces are passed to a teammate, who can immediately use them on the adjacent board. Each player is given five minutes without increment.

A match is won through checkmate, resignation, or time forfeiture, although automatic checkmates using transferred pieces are not allowed under tournament rules.