A pair of American Grandmasters, including World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, is flying to the country to join the inaugural WR Bughouse Championship slated on 1 and 2 June at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Nakamura, whose current live rating of 2792 puts him at second in the FIDE rankings behind only former world titlist Magnus Carlsen’s 2841.4, will team up with German Wadim Rosenstein.

Rosenstein is the founder of WR Chess, which organizes the two-day event that came out with a total cash pot worth $100,000, or a cool P6.1 million.

GM Awonder Liang, ranked 33rd in the world, is also participating and eyeing that top purse worth $50,000 (P3 million).

The runner-up of this meet, which will have a 12-round elimination format with the top eight advancing to the knockout playoffs, will pocket $20,000, the third $10,000 and fourth $6,000.

The fourth to eighth placers will receive $2,000 each while the ninth to 20th $500 apiece.

A total of 53 teams of two players have already made the cut.

It included Filipino tandems 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.