Chinese Grandmaster Zhang Penxiang and young chess star Grandmaster Wang Yue, who won the Singapore Masters International Open in December 2006, are joining the 10-day Philippine Open, according to the organizer, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.

Other top-rated players joining the Philippine Open are Grandmasters Ni Hua and Zhang Zhong of China, Grandmasters Utut Adianto and Megaranto Susanto of Indonesia, Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian of the United States, and Grandmaster Ghaem Maghami of Iran.

Grandmasters and International Masters from the Philippines, Belgium, Russia, India, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands and Malaysia will also participate in the tournament.

Subic Bay, formerly known as one of the largest American naval bases outside the United States, was located near international shipping lanes in the South China Sea and 120 kilometers north of Manila.