Chess brain drain: Mark joining exodus?

Mark Paragua, the country’s highest rated chess player but whose form is hounded by poor performances the last few months, could be the third Filipino grandmaster to seek greener pasture overseas.

The 23-year-old Paragua is reportedly set to leave for Singapore to join fellow grandmasters Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano II who are gainfully employed as chess instructors in the island state.

But a source close to Paragua said the talented player is eyeing a stint in a different company and not in the firm where Villamayor and Mariano are connected at the moment.

There were reports, however, that Paragua was upset over the game-fixing controversy where six players, including buddies IMs Ronald Dableo and Darwin Laylo, were suspended by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Other players sacked were IM Chito Garma, Oliver Barbosa, Merben Roque and Enerose Magno.

Except for Roque and Magno, a former member of the women’s team that competed in the 2006 Palma de Mallorca Olympiad, the four players have appealed to the NCFP to reconsider its decision and asked for a reinvestigation of the case.

Paragua, who nearly reached the 2600 rating mark in 2006, was actually implicated in the scandal but was later cleared due to lack of evidence.– Joey Villar