NCFP taps FIDE man to put house in order

Recently rocked by a string of controversies, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines yesterday ordered a thorough house cleaning and at the same time appointed Casto Abundo, an old, trusted hand in Philippine chess, to take over management of the NCFP as its new executive director.

The NCFP move came more than a week after Grandmasters Joey Antonio and Bong Villamayor resigned as NCFP officials, saying they have totally lost their trust and confidence on NCFP secretary-general Sammy Estimo whom they accused of "mismanagement".

In filing their resignations, Antonio and Villamayor demanded an explanation on how the financial assistance given by the First Gentleman Foundation to fund their training for Vietnam SEA Games last December was spent. They said the pre-SEAG training program was never implemented.

The two grandmasters also questioned Estimo’s appointment as head coach of the SEA Games squad that won three gold medals in Ho Chi Minh City. They said Estimo had no right being named coach, and more so receive allowances and cash incentives, since he is also the federation’s sec-gen.

Estimo, a lawyer by profession, brushed off the accusations and pointed to Florencio Campomanes as the man behind the "demolition job" against him, a "baseless" charge that was refuted by the honorary president of the FIDE, the world’s governing body in chess.

In his appointment paper signed by NCFP president Matias Defensor and chairman Andres Gatmaitan, Abundo was given "full powers" to take over management of the federation. He was also directed to "investigate all documents and accounts, conduct an inventory and submit a financial report to the board."

Prior to Abundo’s appointment, the position of NCFP executive director was vacant.

Abundo was also directed to review all coming tournaments and events, prepare a program for the year 2004 and report to the president.

All these tasks and responsibilities being given to Abundo has left Estimo out in the cold. Whether or not Estimo would resign as NCFP sec-gen now remains the question.

Abundo is the NCFP delegate to the FIDE and was instrumental in the NCFP being recognized by the former. He was a chess champion from Ateneo in the ‘70s and has been with FIDE since 1985, having served as its general secretary and executive director.

Abundo is currently FIDE’s rating administrator and webmaster, managing the FIDE office in Russia under the incumbent president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. He is the only Filipino with the FIDE international organizer title and will also serve as project director of the coming Asian Cities Team Championship in Manila.

Abundo was tournament director of the 2002 World Championship and FIDE Grand Prix in Moscow.