Opinion: On the selection process for the Chess World Cup

MANILA, Philippines – In the upcoming Chess World Cup, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines’ Assistant Executive Director Reden Cruz stated that the criteria for selecting 22-year-old International Master Paulo Bersamina to represent the country is because “our National Chess Federation believes he has a lot of potentials (sic) and big chances to become one of the next Filipino Grandmasters.”

Cruz stated his and the federation’s thoughts 

Cruz also noted that Bersamina’s “character and determination” are part of the reasons why they chose him.

The NCFP’s stated goal is to produce a new Grandmaster as the country has not had one since 2012.

Furthermore, Cruz stated that the NCFP reserves the right to nominate anyone because it is their discretion. 

Of course, the federation reserves the right to choose. Cruz said that “top three placers in the 2019 Battle of the Grandmasters or the 2019 National Women Championship who were supposed to play in the Chess Olympiad that was cancelled due to the pandemic were not told or given promise by the federation that from them will come the nominated player for the World Cup 2021. As per the 2019 Battle of the Grandmasters result was intended for the Olympiad and not for the upcoming World Cup 2021.”

Here is the thing…

By your own admission, there are qualifiers to those Olympiad. But none for the World Cup? How can you hold one and then not do so for another?

Not enough time to hold one? So why wasn’t one held? 

On that note, when you select a representative to a top competition like the Chess World Cup, there is always a process or qualifiers one must pass to be deemed the worthy representative.

I don’t know of anyone anywhere who is sent because of mere “potential”. There are so many others in this country with potential and big chances so why was one chosen the other? There must be another qualifier than merely the discretion of a federation.

This isn’t to rag on Bersamina who is a mighty fine chess player. We do hope he does well and brings glory to the country.

For any international competition, unless it is a small and localized tournament that isn’t on the accredited events that gain a country points for ranking, I guess it is fine. 

It is like years ago when the Loyola Meralco Sparks competed in the Singapore Cup after they were invited. Some quarters said that Loyola wasn’t even the champion then so why them?

Again, it is a domestic invitational. So that’s different unlike the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup that is a stepping stone to the Fifa Confederations Cup that is a rung below the Fifa World Cup.

Back to chess, isn’t the World Cup the only route to the World Championship?

Does one gain Grandmaster norms in the World Cup of which you stated your desire to produce a new GM? Or is it the experience you are giving?

If the objective is to produce a new GM then there are a lot of other tournaments better suited for this purpose. As this is a bi-annual event of this importance, the federation should send its best bet – one of our Grandmasters. 

And yet, in the women’s category, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna was selected. But isn’t WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda the current national chess champion? If Frayna was selected because she is a WGM then it stands to reason a GM must represent the country.

Fide’s current rankings have GM Ino Sadorra at first, GM Mark Paragua at second, GM Oliver Barbosa at third, GM Banjo Barcenilla at fourth, and IM Paulo Bersamina at fifth. 

What are we missing here?

Even you ruled out the previous “qualifiers” then why cannot you hold another one? I figure you had all the time in the world to conduct a qualifying tournament.

To use Cruz’ words, “hindi po natin hangad na pagmulan ang mga bagay na ito ng hindi pagkakaunawan at pagtatalo.”

But that is exactly what happened because of not having a selection process.

If you move laterally, if you represent the Philippines in basketball, ideally you dip from the pool of the Philippine Basketball Association unless they are unavailable. You get the best and the best are in the PBA.

So in chess, you dip into your Grandmaster pool. 

Isn’t in chess, you consider all options before making a move? So why wasn’t one done this time around?

Nevertheless, we are hoping that the chosen representatives — IM Paulo Bersamina and WGM Janelle Mae Frayna do well. 

Good luck and God speed.