By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
There is a new chess body that is bringing a lot of hope, better opportunities for Philippine chess, in the eyes of many local chess players and supporters.
It is the National United Chess Federation of the Philippines (NUCFP) established late September, 2026, not yet 2-month old. It is still a babe.
Its objectives are very novel: to unify the local chess community, foster grassroots development, and produce more Filipino Grandmasters. By this, the clear perception is that there is something amiss in the management of affairs of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), the current organization running the affairs of chess in the country.
I think this is long overdue; it is bound to happen actually. And this is not the first time that the governing organization of chess in the country was flipped. NCFP actually superseded the Philippine Chess Federation as the governing body, in year 2000 due also to mismanagement.
Based on many of their decision-making, the current NCFP administrators appear to think that the organization is their own fiefdom. There were instances when they whimsically withheld or withdrew support, or banned players from joining tourneys even if they were qualified for such privileges. This is especially true when players will not bow to their dictates.
For example, GM Wesley So (who unfortunately now represents the U.S. Chess Federation) won a chess gold for the Philippines during the 2013 World Universiade Games which is the Olympics for students aged 17-28 years old. So was then studying at Webster University in the U.S. on a chess scholarship. He was supposed to have received a PhP1.0M reward for winning. This was the first ever gold medal won by the country since it started participating in that Games in 1967. The Universiade is now called FISU World University Games.
The feat of So was not officially recognized by NCFP. The PhP1.0M incentive was therefore not given to So, as it was blocked by the NCFP Pres. Prospero Pichay, who was already in his 2nd term as the head of NCFP. Pichay maintained that So was not entitled to the incentive, falsely claiming that the Universiade was not included under the applicable incentives law (R.A. #10699). Pichay wanted So to play in the lower tier Asian Indoor Games that time.
This inconsiderate decision plus the curtailment of his allowance as a national athlete were some of the reasons why So changed federation around 2 years later.
By the way, the Philippine Senate commended So for his achievement in Oct, 2013 in a fitting ceremony right at the Senate Hall.
At present, the country has 17 chess grandmasters headed by the first Asian GM, Eugene Torre who is now enshrined in the world’s chess Hall of Fame. During the watch of Mr. Pichay, a politician, there were 11 who obtained their GM title but only 2 may be considered as developed during his term (WGM Janelle Frayna and GM Daniel Quizon. Most of the others have already obtained GM norms earlier.
India got its first GM in 1988. China got theirs almost at the same time..India has already 2 world chess champions while China already have 3 (2 women, 1 male). Wesley So was also a world champion but representing USA.
India has already 98 GMs, while China got 48. Both countries had already won the Chess Olympiad championship. There is hardly any comparison with the Philippines.
While India and China quickly moved forward, our country stagnated. There lies the big difference. What happened to us? Seems that we were stuck with officials who seem to take so much pride with just people bowing to his wishes, never mind if nothing satisfactory is achieved.
I can not fathom why the present NCFP head had just been reelected last July for a 6th term even though his trophy room is almost empty.
Of course, that is the backdrop why the new organization NUCFP came into being. It is headed by Manny Pacquiao, who had been helping local chess for some time already.
Actually Pacquiao declined the offer to become Vice Pres of NCFP for Mindanao citing goverance problem in the org. Acc. To him, he provided funds to make the Manny Pacquiao Int Chess Championship, including ratings fee but it appears the fund was not spent accordingly. This was the last straw. He thought that a new order must prevail.
He was talking about legacy, about the many young players who are not given support and attention to excel. No to corruption, was his thinking.
Right at the bat, NUCFP had already gotten the support of professionals like bankers, engineers, teachers, community leaders and leading GMs such as Wesley So, Julio Sadorra (the current highest-ranked Filipino chess player), and R. Barcenilla, among others around the Philippines.
Babe as it is, NUCFP had already lined up activities such as strong tournaments for this year. From all indications, it is serious in its avowed reason d’etre. I would love to be a member of it.
Its mantra, I believe is: NUCFP exist to move chess, not to own it
I think chess will once more become vibrant in the Baguio-Benguet area, as when the Florencio Campomanes-Leonides Bautista tandem was in its glory days.**
