ni Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
Nagulat ako sa aking nabasa sa Philipine Star, pahina A24, petsang Pebrero 1, 2015. Ayon sa ikaanim na talata sa kolum na Let's Play Chess ni National Master (NM) Edgar de Castro, "There was a logjam for second among four young GMs, half-a-point behind at 8.5. In tie-break order, the 24-year-old Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was declared second, followed by Dutch Anish Giri (20), American Wesley So (21) and Chinese Ding Liren. These are the young stars that most expect to be the next generation of regular major tournament winners."
Di ako makapaniwala. Nagkamali ba ako ng basa, o namali ng pagkakasulat ang kolumnista? American Wesley So. Di ba't dapat ay Filipino Wesley So?
Nais kong siguruhin na mali ang kolumnista o mali ako. Kaya agad kong nagsaliksik.
Ito ang nakasulat sa Wikipedia: "Wesley Barbasa So is a Filipino chess grandmaster representing the United States. So is a former chess prodigy and the eighth youngest grandmaster on record."
Sa chessgames.com naman ay maliwanag na nakasulat: "In 2013, he moved to live and study in the USA at Susan Polgar's chess academy in the University of Webster in Texas, and in 2014 he officially shifted his chess affiliation to the USA. He is now officially the USA's #2 player, as well as the #2 player in the Americas."
Totoo pala. Lumipat na siya sa bansang Amerika. At siya ang pangalawang pangunahing player ng Amerika. Ang nangunguna ay si Gata Kamsky na dating Ruso na naglalaro na rin para sa Amerika.
Ipinanganak si Wesley so sa Bacoor, Cavite noong Oktubre 9, 1993. Natuto siyang maglaro ng chess sa edad na anim, at nagsimulang sumali sa mga torneo sa edad na siyam. Nakamit niya ang kanyang chess grandmaster norm noong edad katorse pa lamang siya at itinuturing siyang pangwalo sa pinakabatang chess grandmaster sa buong mundo.
Marami nang chess masters na malaki ang naging kaugnayan sa Pilipinas, tulad ni Super Grandmaster Bobby Fischer ng Amerika na nanirahan sa Baguio City. Si GM Viswanathan Anand ng India, na kamakailan ay naging contender sa world chess championship na ipinanalo ni world chess champion Magnus Carlsen ng Norway, ay nag-aral sa Pilipinas. Ngunit sila'y pawang mga dayuhan. Tanging si Wesley So lamang ang Pilipinong chess grandmaster na lumipat na ng nasyunalidad.
Si Wesley So ang world's 7th youngest chess grandmasters in the world noong 2007. Siya ang tinanghal na world's number 10 nang manalo siya ng $100,000 first prize sa Millionaire Chess Open nang talunin niya si Webster University teammate Ray Robson sa final round ng kumpetisyon noong Oktubre 2014 sa Las Vegas.
Bago siya lumipat para maglaro bilang kinatawan ng Amerika sa chess, lumiham muna siya kay Prospero Pichay Jr., na siyang pangulo ng National Chess Federation of the Philippines, at dating kongresista. Ayon sa liham, nais ni So na maglaro para sa American Chess Federation ngunit siya pa rin ay "proud to be Filipino, and I will always be a Filipino at heart."
Ang pamilya ni So ay nanirahan na sa Canada, habang siya naman ay nag-aaral sa Webster University sa Amerika, at plano niyang doon na permanenteng manirahan. Ayon sa kanyang liham, na nasa blog ng kanyang gurong si Susan Polgar ng Hungary:
"This is where I will have the opportunity to improve my chess, and make a decent living as a professional player. I want to be able to play in top level tournaments ... to get to the next level."
"I respectfully ask that you grant me this opportunity and consent my transfer."
"If you choose not to approve my transfer request, I have no way of paying the 50,000 euros fees to the NCFP. Therefore, I will have no choice but to sit out another year to fulfill my full two year waiting period so no transfer fees are needed. This will not benefit the NCFP at all. However, it will severely slow down my progress by not being able to play in official FIDE events such as the World Cup, World Blitz and Rapid Championships, etc. I will be forced to miss the next World Championship cycle."
"This is not an easy decision. But it is the best decision for me to have a chance to be a top 10 player in the world, and perhaps one day fight for the World Championship crown. I hope you will support my decision and allow me to make this change immediately so I can have a chance to chase my dream without losing more valuable time at this very important age," ayon pa sa liham ni So.
Ang desisyong ito ni So ay suportado ni Asia's First chess grandmaster Eugene Torre ng Pilipinas. Ayon kay Torre sa panayam ng Rappler: "We have to give 101% full support to Wesley because he’s now in a position where he knows he would be the only one to know what is best for him because we are not there. “I think he is getting a serious training there, then we should give him the full support because he’s already in the position to be ambitious to become a challenger and even to become world champion."
Ayon pa sa Rappler, sinabi ni Torre hinggil kay So: "he has no intention of giving up his Filipino citizenship; his motivation is to play amongst the best talents possible."
Paliwanag nga ni Wesley So, “First of all, I'll be their number 2 player behind (Hikaru Nakamura) who is the number 7 chess player in the world. And so I’ll be able to work with stronger players. That's one of the things I like when I moved here to the Webster University because and I’m working with strong grandmasters and I’m working with them everyday.”
Ito ang posisyong sinusuportahan ni Torre. Ayon pa kay Torre, “He wants only to represent the US federation but he’s not renouncing his citizenship as a Filipino. He’s still a Filipino, that’s why the more reason we should give our full support for his ambition.”
Naglalaro man bilang kinatawan na ng Amerika si Wesley So, dapat pa rin natin siyang ipagmalaki. Tulad nga ng sinabi niya, kahit naglalaro na siya para sa Amerika, siya pa rin ay "proud to be Filipino, and I will always be a Filipino at heart."
Maraming kilalang grandmaster na ang tinalo ni So, tulad ni dating No. 1 chess contender na si Vassily Ivanchuk ng Ukraine, at kamakailan lamang ay tumabla si So, na hawak ang itim na pyesa, laban kay world champion Magnus Carlsen sa 2015 Tata Steel chess tournament.
Sa ngayon, inabot na ni So ang Elo rating na 2755, ayon sa Phil. Daily Inquirer. Ang sinumang makaabot ng Elo rating na 2700 ay pasok na sa mga super elite ng chess. Si GM Eugene Torre naman ay nasa 2448 ang Elo rating sa FIDE (World Chess Federation).
Bilang chess grandmaster na Pilipino na naglalaro na para sa Amerika, patuloy nating suportahan ang mga laban at pangarap ni GM Wesley So, hanggang sa makamit niya ang kanyang pangarap na magkaroon ng world chess champion mula sa Pilipinas. Mabuhay ka, GM Wesley So!
Pinaghalawan:
Philippine Star, p. 24, Feb. 1, 2015
Wikipedia.com
www.chessgames.com
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/71933/sports/so-is-now-rp-s-youngest-gm-world-s-7th-youngest
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/365011/sports/othersports/phl-loses-chess-whiz-wesley-so-to-the-us
http://grandslam.chessdom.com/corus-2009/corus-day-4
http://sports.inquirer.net/159594/wesley-so-settles-for-2755-rating-world-no-12
Samantala, nalutas daw ng mga langgam ang isang problema sa chess noon. Halina't basahin ang kwento sa link na ito:
Ants solve ancient chess problem
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/347481/scitech/science/ants-solve-ancient-chess-problem