While Aussie chessers are selected for Olympiad duties, their Philippine counterparts, on the other hand, have to go through the rigors of a qualifying tournament. Reports from RP earlier this week indicate that local legends, grandmasters Torre and Antonio, have opted out of that tournament, thus ruling them out of Dresden.
For Torre, missing the Olympiad this year will also mean breaking his 19 straight appearances in the competition. He told The Star paper, "I am not feeling well lately and it would be very difficult for me to still go through such kind of a grueling qualifying...I also think that it wouldn’t look good at my age to still play for RP team berths against our young players."
Not feeling well, eh? What about Antonio? When we last saw him here in Sydney a couple of months ago, he certainly looked as healthy as ever! Then again, heaven knows, what affliction can befall a man in just a few short weeks.
RP's Journal Online has another take: "[H]ighly-reliable sources said Torre and Antonio both wanted to be seeded to the national team to the Olympiad outright, a request turned down by NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay and the members of the NCFP board."
Even without the two long-time legends, RP's potential lineup could still turn out to be very impressive, with 5 grandmasters and strong IMs entered in the qualification tournament. I predict these guys to finish way, way above their Aussie counterparts.
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4 comments:
Sorry Eugene, you have had all the breaks for all these years. Thanks to Campo's full support of you.
Campo owe Balinas, Cardoso, Naranja, Ruben Reyes, Barcenilla, and other Filipino GM and future world class caliber talents big time when he decided to put all his support for Torre.
Now Pichay's way is the FAIR way, giving ALL deserving Filipino chess talents the chance to showcase their skills.
It is about time. Thank you for your generosity to give way to our young talents Eugene. That is a class act.
"[H]ighly-reliable sources said Torre and Antonio both wanted to be seeded to the national team to the Olympiad outright, a request turned down by NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay and the members of the NCFP board."
This is BS. Give these guys some respect. Torre carried our flag (Philippine flag) 19 times with pride. He gave it all. And so did Antonio. If they opted not to participate for dresden olympic, respect their decisions. Do not put them down with that "Highly reliable gossip" thing.
"I predict these guys (the RP team) to finish way, way above their Aussie counterparts."
I guess we will find out in the Olympiad...
I wouldn't write off the Australian team, although I do agree that Dresden probably won't be Australia's greatest ever Olympiad performance.
Do not put down CG. He is just reporting the NCFP report as well as from the Philippine media.
We are all proud of Torre and Antonio's contribution to Philippine chess.
It would have been a class act for both veterans to have played and teach the young talents, regardless of the results.
The still young former super GM Mark Paragua played. And people respect him for his class act.
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