RP chess: Splendid or sick?
By Recah Trinidad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:34:00 08/05/2008
MANILA, Philippines—This is not about Beijing and the Olympic Games, set to dazzle and burst in splendor right in the Chinese capital on Friday.
This is about Philippine chess which, based on what national chess officials continue to tell us, could be entering a new golden era.
With report of assorted restrictions, it’s easy to suspect that Beijing, after having organized what could go down as the best Olympics of the modern era, might be hiding several disgusting details from the world.
Well, in the case of RP chess, there have been many glorious reports on the state of the game in the country.
But what’s been kept behind a smoke-screen, obviously the true state of chess in the Philippines, is provided in the following report penned and lent to us by Atty. Samuel Estimo, national master and many-time captain of the Philippine Olympic Chess Team.
Read on:
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National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero Pichay recently signed a contract with Intchess Asia of Singapore authorizing the latter to handle NCFP tournaments in the Philippines.
Pichay’s move was a big blunder and, if it were in a game of chess, he should have resigned immediately.
“It’s an insult to the organizational skills of Filipinos,” grumbled Mr. Florencio Campomanes, former head of the World Chess Federation.
Campo has every reason to question Pichay’s act because it was he who organized the 1978 World Championship match in Baguio City between Karpov and Korchnoi.
Campo was also the main man behind the staging of the 1992 Manila Chess Olympiad—the best ever in the history of the sport.
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According to Campo, there’s no need for a foreigner to manage our tournaments here. The NCFP-Intchess Asia deal also wages war against the very essence of a national sports association.
The NCFP is a non-stock, non-profit entity envisioned to develop the sport of chess, and should not be engaging in business concerns, more so with a foreign company.
Allowing a Singaporean corporation to take part in chess projects here is like permitting a foreign country to intervene in Philippine affairs.
Equally lamentable was Pichay’s unceremonious and unilateral rejection of GM Eugene Torre’s request for inclusion in the Philippine team going to the Dresden Chess Olympiad this year.
Here is the full article.
It’s the same garbage like the USCF. As long as the same idiots are running the feds, members will face the same problems.
all the “successful” events that campo “show me the money” organized, he meant, he made good money successfully.
the “highly successful” event ever, which was the 1992 world chess olympiad in manila, was where 12.8 million pesos disappeared. nada, nobody knows where the monies went, as campo sez, he is not obligated to account for monies fide spent. because he is the el presidente.
and that is where campo was convicted as a felon by the people’s court called sandigbayan.
why is campo bad mouthing the new leadership? because he is not part of the action anymore. and because his retirement loot is getting low.
as for torre, he was the golden boy who got all the breaks from campo. that is why far and few filipino talents were developed because torre got all the breaks. and that spanned over 30 years ago.
after campo and during the short term of pichay’s no favoritism no nonsense leadership of philippine chess the following young chess talents achieved gm titles and or norms:
gm wesley so
gm darwin laylo
gm jayson gonzales
gm buenaventura villamayor
gm mark paragua
gm(n) john paul gomez
promising young junior players are likewise identified and being given the opportunity to play in tournaments.
so the bottom line, estimo and campo, shut up already and let the new leadership of pichay do their thing.
not for pichay’s profit or own good, but for the sake of all past and present talented filipino chessplayers that campo blacklisted in his over 50 years of dictator ship of philippine chess.
Who really Cares? Campo is corrupt along with the Philippine govt in general. There is so much poverty in that country along with corruption in nearly every level of Govt that chess is really insignificant when people are starving an cant afford rice.
12.8 million pesos = about $15 USD or 2 goats and 1 chicken.
Campo is now at the World Junior getting a 2 week paid holiday to be ‘chairman of the appeals committee’. He is very good at organizing his own benefits.
Cong. Pichay is the savior of Phils chess. Filipino chessplayers are happy that Pichay now devotes time in chess. He’s a rich business man and a long-time political leader. He’s actually world chess’ gain. In Congress he makes things happen. In five years time Phils will catch-up with China and India. Phils used to be Asian chess leader. Torre and Antonio were simply afraid to engage. They want special treatment. But Phils have eight GMs now and maybe five with GM norms. Times have changed. Gotta play. Estimo used the columnist Recah to make trouble. Check Estimo’s record, when there’s chess problem in Phils, Estimo’s name is present. These days he’s totally outplayed by Pichay. More power to you, Congressman Pichay!
give pichay a break! estimo had been there and nothing happened in philippine chess scene…it is the decision of torre and rogelio not to play in the national finals which is the selection for the philippine team. let’s leave it that way…torre’s appeal if granted would demoralize other aspiring players…and beside if torre wish to have a “record” as mentioned in his request to pichay then he should earn it, to be fair to others…
Couple of things:
1. Estimo is an idiot. I wouldn’t pay attention to his whining and bitching. He’s moaning because he’s no longer in the NCFP powers that be and that ticks him off greatly.
2. Don’t be too quick to canonize Pichay. While he’s done a lot for chess, he’s done it so far out of his own pocket. He hasn’t been successful in farming out support from the private sector. To be fair, he’s trying and his heart is the right place. It’s the people around him, giving him advice that you have to watch out for!
Also, do you know why Pichay outsourced the organization of tournaments to Intchess in Singapore? Because he has an ownership stake in said company.
Oh, another thing. Bong Villamayor did NOT get his GM title under Pichay’s watch. Bong got his GM title way back in 2000 when he did it the old fashioned way…he got sponsors to fund his GM campaign. He got his three norms in a span of forty (40) days (!!) and returned the excess money to the sponsors. GM Bong is a class act worthy of emulation by our players.
Also, you know how Jayson finally got his rating above 2500 for his GM title? The NCFP did NOT report his disastrous result in the Battle of the GMs! They reported all the other tournaments he did well in first (Pichay Cup, et al) which kicked his rating > 2500 then only afterward they reported his result in Battle of the GMs (which probably lowered his rating <2500 which didn’t matter anymore since his rating just has to touch 2500 to get his GM title). Not saying this is cheating or this is wrong but is just an interesting sidelight on how things are done to get titles