Native talents waiting to be discovered

The current pandemic has forced me to retreat to the province and stay away from Metro Manila in the meantime. So it has been work from the province (WFP) for me, and not merely work from home (WFH).

When my high school friend, lawyer Paul Elauria, learned last year that I have been staying indefinitely in Cagayan province, he asked me to form a chess team from my provincial outpost. He was then setting up what has now become the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines, and he was convincing chess aficionados to put up teams.

I reasoned out to Paul that the last time I seriously played chess was when I joined a University of the Philippines College of Law team led by now Sen. Koko Pimentel to compete in an inter-college sports event. We were routed by a University Belt team, so that dashed whatever fantasies I had of becoming a grandmaster.

But Paul was persistent, and that impelled me to reach out to the Cagayan Valley Chess Association. I had the perfect spiel in convincing them to help me form a team: “If we were basketball players, we’ve been playing mostly in Liga ng Barangay sports events. Suddenly, we’re now invited to play in the PBA, and we’ll have the chance to play against grandmasters, international masters, and national masters.” Instantly, I had a chess team. Thus began my accidental career as team owner of the Cagayan Kings.

A total of 24 teams have been formed from all over the country to compete in the only professional chess league in the world. Many of the other teams have multiple masters as players.

In contrast, our players are all homegrown talents, as they’re either residing, born and raised, or studying in Cagayan. They are: top two board players Jake Tumaliuan and Jojo Foz; Krizza Mae Biggayan, lady category; Lambert Arugay, seniors category; three homegrown category players, namely Emerson Aquio, Robert Mania, and Jefferson Tugade; and three alternates, namely Danilo Bartolome Jr., Judemund Ramirez, and Robert Bumatay, with the latter doubly functioning as team coach.

Since I don’t have the financial arsenal to sign up titled players, I set out instead the nonfinancial objective of discovering native chess talents and giving them the priceless experience of playing with the country’s best. It’s turning out to be a most fulfilling pursuit.

In its first game, the Cagayan Kings shocked everyone by winning against the powerhouse team of the Pasig King Pirates, which has two grandmasters, an international master, and two national masters. Cagayan lost its next two matches, but the team setbacks were overshadowed by individual triumphs garnered by its unrenowned players against their titled and more experienced rivals.

Cagayan’s board 1 player, Tumaliuan, made multiple headlines bannering him as an unheralded 31-year-old tricycle driver who beat Grandmaster Darwin Laylo. He also earned wins against an international master and a national master before bowing to another grandmaster in two close matches. Cagayan’s board 5 player, Aquio, won all his games against two national masters. And Cagayan’s boards 2, 6, and 7 players—Foz, Mania, and Tugade—registered wins against some of their more senior rivals.

Like Tumaliuan, the Cagayan Kings’ other players are a motley group of ordinary folk belonging to modest families. One tends to his family’s poultry and piggery business, another is an IT support staff, and two are students in Cagayan schools. Majority of them play using their mobile phones (games are online), compared to some of the other teams who are equipped with laptops.

Apart from these chess talents, I have discovered several provincial visual artists who are hidden gems, after my wife and I sponsored art competitions. My wife has also been raving about outstanding musical talents she has encountered in our province.

Regardless of the team standing that the Cagayan Kings will achieve at the end of the competition, they’re on their way to winning the distinction of having shown to the whole nation that there’s a gold mine of native talents in our provinces waiting for a chance to be discovered.

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