Philippines will be competing against 38 teams in the open division and 31 teams in the women’s division of the competition participated by countries across Asian and Oceania region.

Paragua and Barcenilla will be in charge of the two top boards of the open team while International Master Paulo Bersamina, GM John Paul Gomez, and IM Haridas Pascua will take on the third, fourth, and fifth boards, respectively.

The women’s team will be composed of Woman GM Janelle Mae Frayna, WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda, Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza, WIM Bernadette Galas, and WIM Kylen Joy Mordido.

Paragua is the country’s top board player and reigning bullet champion while Barcenilla has topped two recent Battle of the GMs.

According to the National Chess Federation of the Philippines Executive Director Cliburn Orbe, the selection of players was made by national coaches Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales for men’s and women’s respectively.

Torre and Gonzales will also serve as the non-playing captains of the team.

The preliminary phase will follow the nine-round Swiss-League system for both divisions with four players battling each round. The top eight countries for each division will advance to the quarterfinals.