‘Unpaid’ youth chessers boycott NCFP tourney

Don’t expect Nelson Mariano III and at least two other veterans of last year’s World Youth Chess Championships in Greece to see action in the forthcoming National Age-Group Chess Championship being organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Nelson "Sonny" Mariano yesterday said he will not field his son in the event set May 17-21 in Mandaluyong for the simple reason that the NCFP has yet to release the $450 allowance that the latter should have received for competing in the Greece event.

"I was surprised to find out in the newspaper that my son is among the participants when he is not competing. The NCFP still owes my son," said Mariano, whose two other children, Nelson II and Christine Rose, are both international masters.

Mariano, in fact, has appealed to all parents of age-groupers to boycott the event being organized and run by NCFP secretary-general Sammy Estimo and Grandmaster Eugene Torre.

The two other World Youth veterans who have decided to skip the event are Sherily Cua and Jan Jodilyn Fronda. Like Mariano II, they have yet to receive their allowances for competing in the international tournament last November.

The allowances were supposed to be part of the P437,400 released by the Philippine Sports Commission to the NCFP last October. Torre yesterday said the money was spent for plane tickets since the allowances were not part of their request to the PSC.

Sherily’s sister, Sheryl, and Jodilyn’s father, Diosdado, said they are joining Mariano’s appeal to boycott the NCFP tournament. Members of the Bol-anon Chess Association led by Nicandro Pagaran are doing the same.

"We, in the province of Bohol, will not participate...because of the experienced (sic) we had in the 2003 National Age-Group Chess Championship," said Pagaran, referring to the fact that cash incentives were not given to the winners as allegedly promised.

Mariano said he will field his son in the separate National Age-Group tournament scheduled May 17-21 at the Star Mall in Mandaluyong and sanctioned by FIDE, the international chess federation.

"There’s no problem with that. We are not forcing anyone to join us. They can hold their own age-group championships but ours is the one sanctioned by the NCFP," said Torre, who heads the NCFP’s players council.