Barcenilla heads chess team

Two US-based Filipino players, who honed up their skills by campaigning in the tough chess circuit in the last two years, will spearhead the Philippine team’s bid in the 34th Chess Olympiad which starts Oct. 27 in Istanbul, Turkey.

GM-elect Rogelio Barcenilla, Jr., the two-time Asian Juniors champion who now boasts of a USCF rating of 2549, and IM Jayson Gonzales, who recently won a top-rated tournament in the East Coast, will join IMs Richard Bitoon, Enrique Paciencia and Petronio Roca and NM Rolly Martinez in the Philippine Chess Federation-organized team.

Despite the distractions and delays in training and preparation spawned by the power struggle in the sport’s leadership, the PCF said the players are in top form, confident and ready to prove their worth.

PCF president Jesus Ingeniero will head the delegation while Enofre Manuel is the PCF’s delegate to the 71st FIDE Congress, where the federation will contest the National Chess Federation of the Phils.’ claim that it has the right to send a team to the Olympiad.

The NCFP is relying on the FIDE Presidential Board recent ruling, granting the new group recognition, although the PCF had since questioned the legality of the NCFP’s participation since the latter was only granted a "provisional admittance."

The PCF cited FIDE Statutes 2.2 and 2.5 which will disqualify the NCFP, as provisional member, from sending a team to the Olympiad. Under the Statutes, provisional members cannot participate in any FIDE event nor will have a seat in the General Assembly on Nov. 3.

Barcenilla, now No. 1 player in Arizona, will be coming from San Francisco, California on his way to Istanbul, while the rest of the team will leave next week.

Bitoon, the talented Cebuano who has the potentials to become the country’s next GM, obtained his IM title in the 2000 Asian Zone 3.2a eliminations held in Vietnam and has been a consistent performer for the RP team in various international competitions.

Paciencia, on the other hand, earned his IM title in the Zonals with Roca, while the soft-spoken Martinez finished second in the RP Olympiad qualifier and was a member of the RP team in the Asian Team Championships held in China in 1999.