No Olympiad stint for Paragua?

Mark Paragua might have secured his place in the history of Philippine chess by ruling the just-concluded Alushta GM Tournament in Ukraine but the country’s current top-rated player would be missing a stint in the prestigious chess Olympiad.

With two more big tournaments abroad on tap in the next three weeks, Paragua is likely to skip the National Chess Championships set to start Sept. 18 in Tagaytay, a tough round robin tournament among 18 players that will select the members of the national team in next month’s Olympiad in Calvia, Majorca.

"I doubt he’d play in the national championships since he is still committed to compete in two more tournaments abroad in his quest for his GM title," said GM Eugene Torre, who leads the elite cast in the grand finals along with other seeded bets and fellow GMs Joey Antonio, Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano II and whiz kids Wesley So and Aices Salvador.

Torre added the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) has ruled out an outright seeding for Paragua, stressing the old system has been scrapped to give every player an equal chance to become part of the national squad.

But Paragua’s presence in the team would be a big plus for the country’s bid in the biennial event set Oct. 14-31 since the 20-year-old find from Meycauayan, Bulacan is on the top of his game and he underscored this by topping the tough Alushta GM Tournament in Ukraine over the weekend.

Paragua employed his favorite King’s Indian Attack to trounce FM Evgeni Kobylkin of Ukraine in 30 moves in the final round and copped the crown that netted him a performance rating of 2661. He also gained 24 rating points to hike his ELO rating of 2530 to 2554.

"My game plan is to win the game to add a few ratings so all out talaga ako sa laro since nakuha ko na yong GM norm ko," said Paragua, who earlier obtained his second GM norm to take a step closer to his dream GM title.

His victory in Ukraine also made him the first Filipino player since the late GM Rosendo Balinas Jr. to win a closed tournament in a former Soviet Union republic. Balinas did the trick in the Odessa tournament in 1976, earning him the GM title in the process.

"Rest muna ako ng one day then continue my preparation for the next tournament. I hope I can maintain my momentum and level of play," added Paragua.

Actually, Paragua isn’t too enthusiastic to play in the Olympiad owing to his GM title bid even as he trained his sights on some other tournaments where he feels he could further hone his craft.

"Sana makuha ko na yong huling GM norm then after that makalaro sa World Juniors sa India at Hoogeveens sa Netherlands. After the last norm, my next target is to reach 2600 ELO rating. Sana tuloy tuloy na po ito," said Paragua.