Blog GilaChess

Philippine chess has fallen a long way, and it hurts to write about it. I say that as a Malaysian blogger who recognise Eugene Torre as one of the big names in Asian chess. He became Asia’s first Grandmaster back in 1974, and for years the Philippines was the country everyone else in the region looked up to.

Today the Philippines sits around #54 in FIDE’s global rankings (I’m quoting the figure from the article I read, so please check the current list yourself). That’s a steep drop for a country with so much history.

Before I go on, a caveat. I’m a third-rate blogger sitting in Malaysia, not someone inside the Philippine chess scene. What follows comes from what players, analysts and critics have said, plus plenty of “he said, she said” that I can’t verify. Take it as a summary of the complaints, not gospel.

Here are the main issues people point to:

1. Politics and federation management: This comes up the most. Critics say the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) has been run more like a personal business than a development body, with control and favouritism coming ahead of supporting players. The long leadership of Prospero Pichay Jr. has been controversial, and the disputes have split the local community.
   
   
2. Brain drain: The talent keeps leaving. The most painful case is Wesley So, who peaked at World No. 2 with a rating of 2822. After winning gold at the 2013 World University Games, he reportedly had his government incentives blocked by the NCFP because he’d skipped another event the federation preferred. He later described an “endless cycle of corruption” and switched to the United States Chess Federation. Others followed a similar path - Bong Villamayor moved to Singapore, and Oliver Barbosa also went abroad to build a career. GM Mark Paragua has moved to New York and has a niece Megan Paragua who is making waves in US Chess now.
   
   
3. Money, or the lack of it: India pours support into coaching, sponsorship and youth pipelines. In the Philippines, talented provincial players struggle just to get started. Getting the GM title means playing expensive norm tournaments overseas, and each trip can cost ₱100,000 or more. Local prize pools are modest and barely cover travel and accommodation, so many masters end up treating chess as a hobby or leaving for other careers.
   
   
4. A long Grandmaster drought: The Philippines hasn’t produced a new homegrown open GM since Richard Bitoon in 2011. That’s about 15 years. The NCFP has also apparently failed to send youth teams to big events like the World Youth Championships or the U-16 Olympiad for much of the past decade. If kids don’t get exposure, they don’t get strong. It’s that simple.
   
   
5. One WGM: WGM  officially became the Philippines' first Woman Grandmaster (WGM) when her title was confirmed by FIDE in 2017, after completing her final WGM norm in September 2016 at the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. She is their ONE and only WGM so far. To be fair, there are other top Filipina chess players looking to earn the WGM title include: 
   Ruelle Canino (Woman International Master / WIM) – Runner-up at the 2026 Philippine National Women’s Chess Championship
   Jan Jodilyn Fronda (Woman International Master / WIM) – Third place at the 2026 Philippine National Women’s Chess Championship
   Shania Mae Mendoza (Woman FIDE Master / WFM)
   Mhage Gerriahlou Sebastian (Woman National Master / WNM)

It isn’t all gloom, though. In 2020 the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) launched the first professional chess league in Southeast Asia, aimed at giving local players a real livelihood. There’s also the National United Chess Federation of the Philippines (NUCFP), a grassroots group pushing the old guard for transparency, accountability and reform. Will they succeed? I honestly don’t know, but there are parties that are trying.

Economy is a factor

Malaysia has a higher GDP per capita ($13,125 vs $4,171) and stronger industrialization, whereas the Philippines has a slightly larger total economy ($487 billion vs $473 billion), a bigger population (117 million vs 36 million), and lower public debt-to-GDP (59% vs 71%). I've been to Philippines and comparatively, Malaysia is doing better than the Philippines. Of course that's from my limited one off visit there. I saw that quite clearly when I went for the 1st Prospero Pitchay Open, I saw how the everyday Pinoys lived and it was definitely more humble compared to everyday Malaysians. So there is definitely the economic struggles to contend with - but on the other side of the argument, Philippines have many more GMs compared to Malaysia. But I'll put that to grassroot support. Pinoys are more crazy about chess than Malaysians. Just one subjective metric used, online views of live big chess events in KL and Penang can hardly reach 10 whereas a Penang friend said they have hit 50+ before. Whereas I saw just from WGM Janelle May Frayna casual blitz stream hitting hundreds of simultaneous viewers!!

To summarise,

• Politics: Control and favouritism over player development.
• Talent loss: Wesley So, Villamayor, Barbosa and Paragua all left.
• Funding: Costly norm trips, small prize pools.
• Results: No new open GM since 2011.
• Hope: PCAP and NUCFP are pushing for change.

As a Malaysian, I can’t help seeing a mirror here. We have our own problems with funding and grassroots support, and I want to learn by seeing what is happening to our neighbours. The Philippines has produced world-class talent before and could do it again, so I’m hoping the next Torre is out there right now, waiting for someone to sponsor his plane ticket.

What do you think - can Philippine chess recover, or has too much damage been done?

I couldn't help noticing this in Facebook about Philippine chess. Suddenly there is a flood of FB posts about a big divide. One side is the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), the official body. The other is a loose crowd of grassroots organizers and critics, some of them tied to alternative movements like NUCFP. Everyone has opinions, and a lot of them are loud. NUCFP is backed by big names like Manny Pacquiao, GM Wesley So, Paul Elauria, Cliburn Anthony Orbe, Jose Dionisio "Jong" Guevarra, Orly Ortega, Ariel Potot, Tony Aguirre, Melben Jochico, Rey Rabago, Wesley So, Julio Catalino Sadorra, Rogelio Barcenilla Jr., and John Paul Gomez.

So what are people actually fighting about? From what I’ve been reading, it comes down to three things.

1. Sanction fees (a.k.a. “who pays for what?”)

This one keeps coming up. Independent organizers and critics have raised concerns about the sanction requirements and fees attached to big open tournaments, regional and international, like the Manny Pacquiao International Open. It's a substantial event with attractive prize fund ₱5,000,000 (RM 320,000+) across the many divisions.

AI generated for illustration only

2. Manila vs. everyone else

The NCFP, is the country official chess federation, currently led by Prospero Pichay Jr. and working with the Philippine Sports Commission, runs the national championship qualifiers through three legs: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. But hubs like Cebu keep pushing for more autonomy, more local recognition, and more support for homegrown, grassroots chess. The seems to be tension between a Manila-centric structure and strong provincial scenes.

3. Who gets to wear the flag?

Because NCFP is the official federation, selection for the Chess Olympiad and the Asian Games goes through NCFP semi-finals and grand finals, and every so often that causes a stir. There are voices, questioning whether talented players who come up outside the official pipeline get a fair shot.

I’m not here to side any party. A lot of what’s out there is critics’ claims and Facebook posts, and the official side has its own story. Only time will see how this pans out..