Tag: chesskid

Filipino Chess Player League (FCPL) – Qatar Relaunches OTB Blitz Tournament

by turknoys, posted in Travel Goals

Fact: Philippines has now completed 10 years without the distinction of producing even one chess player GM.

10 years?! Ang unang reaksyon ko?! NOOO!!! Ang gagaling kaya ng mga Pinoy sa chess! Our traveling family discovered chess when our then Under-9 wanted to play in tournaments. Tatlong taon na suporta sa among GM-wannabe made us realize the obvious – there’s not much exposure sa mga Filipino chess players around the world.

More than 40 days in Serbia playing chess has improved our now U12 chess player. Bakit? Kasi ang daming tournaments na accessible at puwedeng mag join both tourists and locals alike. Knowing chess is one thing, having the opportunities to play in tournaments makes a lot of different. Sadly, if we stay in the Philippines for more than six months, we doubt na magkakaroon ng ganong karaming tournaments.

Kaya naman, pagbalik namin dito Qatar, we aim to be engaged in the already existing Pinoy Expat Chess Community!

We are very fortunate to be now part of the Filipino Chess Player League – Qatar! ANG GAGALING NA MGA CHESS PLAYERS! There are a lot of stories na nanalo sila Top Prizes even defeating GMs who are globally known na sa larangan ng chess! Every single tournament na hosted ng Qatar Chess, for sure laging mag Pinoy! Kakaproud grabe. This group of people for sure will accelerate our chess player kid’s GM GOALS!

Hence, this appeal – please reach out to them to sponsor more tournament!! To kick start, we held the first blitz tournament last 25 February , kahit sa bahay lang venue we tried to accommodate para naman masimulan muli ang OTB tournaments. Grabe, you can feel the passion for chess and love of chess games! Imagine what could happen when tournaments are FIDE-rated na.

And the bigger point – ang daming GM-material na Pinoy everywhere. Kailangan lang talaga ng suporta. In our little ways, let’s give help.

Here are some photos from this tournament.

We need to inspire Filipino Chess Players from within our Expat Filipino Community here in Qatar – please reach out to FCPL-Qatar!
They are not “professional chess players, some of them don’t even have FIDE number, pero HALIMAW sa galaw pag maglaro ng chess!
Our dining table never had so much laughters around! Iba talaga mga chess players!
FILIPINO CHESS PLAYERS LEAGUE – QATAR
The winner of First Blitz Tournament 2022! Congratulations to Ryan Mendoza – Champion, Marlon Tallayo 2nd prize and John Orven Tia 3rd prize! – in terms of Filipino congratulatory endearment – balato naman! ❤️💪🏽

Remember these faces (minus the one in orange kasi chess mom yan) – these people will conquer the chess world!
Winners!!!
Special shout out to The Empanada House – isang tawag for a cause – bigay kagad nga discounts para magenjoy ang mga chess players for this tournament. In photo is the president of FCPL- Qatar enjoying delicious yummy empanada!!! More collaborations to come, we hope!!

Another Fact: The Philippines used to be the #1 chess-playing nation in Asia. Now it’s not even #1 in Southeast Asia. (Consider the point I’ve outline how good in chess Filipinos are! Kaka-sad di ba?!

Now the question is : May magagawa ba tayo to reverse this ? If so, what do you think should be done? How can you help?