All eyes on Grandmaster Johan-Sebastian Christiansen of Norway when the much waited Manny Pacquiao International Open dubbed as 87th Kàlilangan Chess Festival 2026 gets underway on February 23 to 27, 2026 at the Family Country Hotel, General Santos City.
Organized by the Pacman Chess Association, the five-day Standard (90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment time control format) backed up by former Senator Many Pacquiao, offers 20,000 US dollars to the champion.
With an Elo rating of 2659, Christiansen is the top seed in the tournament.
Christiansen was awarded the titles International Master, in 2015, and Grandmaster, in 2018, by FIDE.
In 2022, Christiansen won the 1st Colonia de Santa Jordi Chess Festival on a tie- break with Brandon Clarke, with a score of 7.5/9.
Among the early entries are
GM Pa Iniyan of India, GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Bulgaria, GM N R Visakh of India, GM Li Men Peng of Switzerland, GM Vitaly Sivuk of Sweden, GM Platon Galperin of Sweden, GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia, GM VS Raahul of India, GM Novendra Priasmoro of Indonesia, GM Nguyen Doc Hoa of Vietnam , GM John Paul Gomez, IM Christian Gian Karlo Tade-Arca , IM Kim Stevan Yap, Lennon Hart Salgados, Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa, Diego Abraham Caparino, Lightus De Leon, Edmundo Lao and Emmanuel Pacquiao Sr. of the Philippines.
Also joining in the event organized by Pacman Chess Association are IM Haochen Jiang of China, IM Arif Abdul Hafiz of Indonesia, IM Jodi Azarya Setyaki of Indonesia, IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla of India, WIM Hagawane Aakansha of India , WIM Furtado Ivana Maria of India and WFM Yilin Li of Canada.
The Tournament Director is Orly Ortega while Chief Arbiter IA James Infiesto is assisted by Deputy Chief Arbiter IA Michael Joseph Pagaran and FA Margie Narcilla.-Marlon Bernardino-
Photo shows International Arbiter James Infiesto, seated right playing a game of chess against former Senator Manny Pacquiao.
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