THE National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is appealing the decision of Fide to disqualify the Philippine team from competing in the ongoing 2021 Fide Online World Chess Olympiad.
PH team disqualification from 2021 Fide World Chess Olympiad
NCFP chief operating officer Jayson Gonzales said he has already submitted an appeal to Fide, the world governing body of chess, after one of the members of the national team was allegedly in violation of the ‘fair play policy’ of the online competition following a match.
In the appeal, Gonzales said they are also condoning the act of the player, which he only described as a ‘kid’ and the 12th person on the team. The entire team was playing in their respective homes before the decision was made by Fide.
“Gumawa na ako ng letter of appeal considering na ‘yung bata na nahuli. Nag-email sila kaninang umaga sa amin telling us na we will no longer able to go to the next stage because they found out that my violation of the fair play policy regulation because sa system, sa algorithm nila na may violation,” said Gonzales on Monday night.
“Tinignan naman nila ‘yung Board 1 hanggang Board 11, cannot find any inappropriate or any misconduct. Since siya lang ang violator, why suffer the whole team?”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fide organized an Online Olympiad, the first edition of which was held last year with Chess.com as the platform being used in the tournament.
Women’s Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna, one of the players of the team, rued the Philippines’ "unfair" disqualification in the 2021 Fide Online Olympiad 2021 especially with the squad already in second place in the Top Division.
“I've been part of the Philippine team for more than a decade! 10 years and this is the first time that the chess team was put into this disgraceful spotlight,” said Frayna on her Facebook page.
“I never condone cheating. There is no valid excuse for cheating in chess if proven true. But how is it fair for us-the remaining members of the team, who played our games, fair and square? Fide's decision is very painful,” said Frayna.
Gonzales said they appealed as there have been previous competitions particularly in para chess where the allegedly violator of an online chess competition was penalized and not the whole team.
The NCFP official is hopeful that Fide would reconsider with the competition to resume on Wednesday.
Gonzales is not speculating whether the act was done by the player or of a different person. The player has already been sanctioned with a 15-year ban in online chess competitions.
“Lagi naming nireremind na mag-abide at sumunod sa fair play policy regulation ng Fide but we cannot able to control their mind whether they’ll follow,” said Gonzales.
“I cannot define his goodness or badness because of that. Pero definitely, meron siyang ginawa. Pero siyempre, bata pa ‘yan, hindi mo madedefine. Ang nakakalungkot lang, bakit buong team?”