Info drive vs PCF on

ISTANBUL, Turkey — The National Chess Federation of the Philippines, through former International Chess Federation (FIDE) president Florencio Campomanes, has launched an information campaign against the Philippine Chess Federation among delegates to the 71st FIDE Congress here Wednesday.

Campomanes is adviser and founder of the NCFP, which is seeking to formalize through the FIDE Congress the ouster of the PCF, the FIDE affiliate for 43 years, from the international body.

Campomanes secured the approval of the NCFP membership from the FIDE Presidential Board in Tehran, Iran last Aug. 27 and is seeking ratification of the board recommendation during the plenary session of the FIDE Congress possibly on Nov. 11.

An executive council meeting is likely to review the recommendation of the Presidential Board before submitting it to the FIDE Congress for the final approval of the members.

Some 123 delegates are expected to cast their votes. The delegates started pouring in Tuesday.

The case of the NCFP membership and the PCF’s appeal have divided the FIDE, the world’s third largest sports organization after the International Football Association and the International Track and Field Association, and debates have heated up as the PCF started drawing sympathizers to its cause.

Many members, particularly from the Third World and small countries, have expressed apprehension that the approval of the NCFP would create a bad precedent that would affect the membership of old organizations in favor of new organizations which have the support of powerful figures inside FIDE.

PCF president Jesus Ingeniero said delegates had informed him that Campomanes distributed in hotels where the delegates are billeted a load of materials, including press clippings from broadsheets and tabloids in Manila and which emanated from press releases from the NCFP. It included a letter of NCFP president Eugene Torre on the complaints of Filipino chess players.

"I’ve learned about it from delegates, but I have not received a copy," said Ingeniero, who refused to comment on Campomanes’ move.

Campomanes, evidently, started the campaign in anticipation of a move by the PCF to question the propriety of the board decision and present its case to the General Assembly.

The PCF was denied of its seat in the FIDE Congress since the FIDE secretariat had already approved Casto Abundo of the NCFP as the FIDE delegate. The PCF was also delisted from the roster of members while its players, led by GM-candidate Rogelio Barcenilla, Jr., were not allowed to play in the 34th World Chess Olympics here.

Ingeniero, backed by supporters here, is expected to be given a chance to appear before the General Assembly to answer charges that may be levelled against the PCF. He will also press for the retention of PCF’s full membership, including its rights as member of FIDE.

The NCFP team was given the accreditation to play.

Ingeniero said that although the talks brokered by zone 3.2A president Ignatius Leung of Singapore collapsed, he would still be open to negotiations to avert a heated confrontation in the FIDE Congress between the two Filipino organizations.

As of late yesterday, Georgeous Makropolous, FIDE executive vice president from Greece, offered to mediate between the PCF and NCFP.