By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
He is an American, and he is about to reach the pinnacle of the chess world. Everytime he plays, an American flag is beside his name. The irony is that, he was actually born and raised in Cavite. In fact, he is a very proud Filipino and still has a valid Filipino passport. He is chess grandmaster Wesley So.
Because of his talent, he was immediately and warmly embraced by the USA. Am not so sure but probably, he was quickly given American citizenship (making him dual citizen) without much ado. He was definitely a vital cog for the US team in winning the Chess Olympiad last year where our very own Eugene Torre was also an outstanding performer for the Philippine team.
Who says that naturalizing a basketball player for the Philippine Gilas basketball team is absurd? USA and Russia, both world powers, are doing it also for basketball, as well as for other sports!
But back to So. He won the super strong Tata Steel 2017 Chess championship last January which was participated in by almost all of the top 14 chess grandmasters, including the world champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Prior to that, he also won two equally super strong tourneys last year, elevating his chess rating beyond 2800. Such elite rating was reached only by a total of 12 grandmasters since the rating system was instituted more than 50 years ago. At the moment only two Asians, So and Anand from India, the former world champion, had gained such lofty rating.
In the words of chess experts, “So rocked the chess world”. As of Feb 1, 2017, Wesley is officially ranked number three in the world but is actually ranked second in the so called live ratings! The live rating of a player is based on his/her performance in on-going tournaments. By March, So would most probably be number two. He achieved that without a loss in a span of 56 games starting early last year. He is the only elite chess player who had not tested defeat in such number of consecutive games. Even the world champion suffered some reversals within the period.
Wesley’s current rating is the 6th highest ever, higher than those reached by most chess world champions including, Fischer, Anand and Karpov. A lot of chess enthusiasts now believe that he could be the next world champion. If that happens, he will unfortunately be fighting for another flag and not of the Philippines.
Make no mistake though. He is a Filipino by heart, by sentiment and by action. When he won those very strong tournaments, he always silently announced to the whole world that he is as Filipino as balut and puto bungbong when he received his awards by wearing the Barong, although it was really cold when the tourneys were held.
The achievements of So meant two things. One, that chess is really one sport where Filipinos can really excel in. Two, that if chess and chess players will be given proper attention, it could bring honors to the country.
Chess had long been part of the curriculum in Russia and many member states of the former USSR. It is also now an integral part of the curriculum in many countries in Europe such as Spain, Hungary and Netherlands.
In the U.S., several States have already set in motion curricular programs making chess a pivotal part. For instance, in New York, they have the National Scholastic Chess Foundation where they train teachers to promote chess throughout America. They believe that a combination of music, ballet and chess results in better coordination in the learning processes of students. Each game of chess is like a melody, they maintained. Other research results in Europe point to a better academic performance by students when chess was taught and embraced by them. In brief, chess is not only promoted as a sport but also as an important tool for learning. Students become more analytical
In Asia, China, India and Vietnam also have their own versions of including chess in their curricula that’s why they are now leaving us behind in terms of general performance of their chess players. It would be foolhardy if our National Chess Federation of the Philippines will not make any similar moves to regain our once dominant chess role in Asia.
On second thought, our current NCFP set of officials seem unconcerned about the decadent state of chess in the Philippines. The decline of chess in the country started with these set of officers. We may not be able to see the resurgence of chess with them, specially the federation president, around. It is a pity because we have a lot of young talents waiting to be nurtured and developed.
Maybe, CAR can start introducing chess in school curricula despite the nonchalance of the said officials. Chess in schools sounds great. Not of course, condoms in schools.**
