National Chess Federation of the Philippines

By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THE National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is the governing body of chess in the country and is in turn affiliated with the World Chess Federation(fide).

It was born amid much sound and fury in 2000 with a lot of pride lost and prestige broken when it replaced the Philippine Chess Federation in representing the country in the 34th Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.

The highlights of the federation and a brief history of chess in the country are listed as well as its present officers in its website ncfphilippines.org:

Sun.Star Network Online's Sinulog Festival Coverage
Post your Sinulog greetings

* 1947 - 1st National Championship won by Horacio Tagle.
* 1956 - Philippine Chess Federation recognized by Fide
* 1957 - Rodolfo Tan Cardoso awarded International Master - the first in Asia. Cardoso became World Junior Champion
* 1966-1970 - Florencio Campomanes elected Zone President
* 1974 - 1982 - Campomanes appointed Fide Deputy President for Asia
* 1974 - Eugene Torre at 22years old became Asia's first Grandmaster (GM)
* 1976 - IM Rosendo Balinas, Jr. won in USSR, the 1st foreigner to do so and becomes GM
* 1978 - World Championship Match bet Karpov and Korchnoi in Baguio City
* 1981 - Asean Games held in Manila
* 1982 - Florencio Campomanes elected Fide President
* 1992 - Chess Olympiad held in Manila (Organized by Florencio Campomanes)
* Aug 27, 2000 - National Chess Federation of the Philippines was recognized by Fide
* 2004 - IM Mark Paragua became the 6th and youngest Filipino GM (at age 20)
* 2005 - 24th Asean Games in Manila
* 2005 - 3rd Asean Paragames in Manila
* 2006 - 1st President Arroyo International Open

Its officers are headed by Hon. Matias Defensor as chairman and Hon. Prospero Pichay as president. Management of the Federation is handled by Willie A. Abalos. Its motto is “Make the right move, play chess.”

From all indications, we might have the best president the federation ever had. Rep. Pichay is a dynamic president and if ever he will run for senator he can surely count on chess players all over the archipelago to support him.

Wijk Aan Zee. Aronian, Topalov and Radjabov are co-winners in the biggest tournament of the year, while World champion Vladimir Kramnik was only half a point behind with a win over Loek Van Wely in the last round. Anand could only manage 7.5 pts as he lost to both Kramnik and Topalov.

Aronian and Kramnik never lost a game, while Topalov went down against Peter Svidler in the 11th despite being initially ahead in position.

Here are the final standings in group A after 13 rounds: 1. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2744 8.5; 2. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2783 8.5; 3. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2729 8.5; 4. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2766 8.0; 5. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2779 7.5; 6. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2728 7.0; 7. Navara, David g CZE 2719 6.5; 8. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2678 6.5; 9. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2723 6.0; 10. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2647 5.0; 11. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2667 5.0; 12. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2683 5.0; 13. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2690 4.5; 14. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2715 4.5.

Group B winner was Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine and group C was snared by Michal Krasenkow of Poland. Both sections were also 14-players group and round robin formats.

Cepca news. Tony Cabibil dominated the Class A January tournament at Bibo`s last Tuesday and 2nd placer was Allan Salientes. In group B and C Percival Fiel won via tiebreak over Nick Cuizon as 3rd, while 5th went to Mat Matuco, Mandy Baria and Maggi Dionson, respectively.