Checkmate

As I was getting ready for Manila to arrange schedules of the Masters Athletics tournament and watch Michael Buble at the MOA, when chess practitioner-cum marathon runner Rodrigo Ababat, gave me a call. He was suggesting that Casa Ilongga  field a team to the 3rd PICPA Cebu Chapter  Sinulog Open Chess Tournament set on January 24-25 at the Deep Blu d’ Wood Pushers Chess Club in SM City. Well, Drigo has all the rights to demand as we are the defending  champion. To recall, we hurriedly formed a team last year that was bannered by Richard Natividad and Ababat himself to come  from behind and won the chessfest on our first try. We were able to upset teams that had the likes of Fide Master Anthony Makinano, Ronald Ganzon, Carlo Maraat and NM Merben Roque. Same rules will again be observed. Each team shall be composed of four regular players including one CPA and one alternate. Prizes at stake are P12,000 for the champion, P8,000 for the second placer and P6,000 for the third placer. Fourth placer will go home richer with P4,000 with the top  board players each pocketing P1,000. FIDE Arbiter Marvin Ruelan will head the officiating.  Being the former physical conditioning coach of the Philippine Chess Team to the 1992  World Chess Olympiad, I kidded Rodrigo, if he wanted we could bring in my “agaw” GM Eugene Torre, GM Joey Antonio and Manny Senador but that will be an over kill. I’m sure Richard and Rodrigo would be enough to give the other teams a run for their money. CHECKMATE!

Bangkok marathon

Home  for the holidays and Sinulog is former CERC original member  JoJo Duran, one of our fastest runner in the  club.  Jojo who is now a bit overweight, said he is now based in Bangkok, Thailand where he has been staying for five years now.  He worked in New Zealand after he left Cebu in the early 2000s.  Jojo said he sometimes meet in races there another member who is now based in Cambodia, ultramarathoner  Brother  Carlo Bacalla.  I told Jojo I might run in the Bangkok Marathon but it all depends if my heel spurs injury get better, but I guess it’s cronic, a result of running for 35 years.  Anyway,  I’m looking forward to Bangkok, besides Jojo said you don’t have to live in a hotel for I could stay in his apartment.

Did you know?

Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila set a record when he won the 1960 Olympics Marathon, running barefoot  over cobblestone streets of Rome. He, however, won the 1964 Tokyo Olympic  Marathon wearing shoes.  To show that he was not burned out, Bikila ran to the field of the track, got on his back and began a series of limbering excercises.  He won the marathon only 6 weeks after an appendectomy. The Ethiopian government awarded him a car for the victory.  In 1969 he suffered a spinal injury in a road accident and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.  He died in 1973 aged 41.