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INSTEAD
of preparing for his big battle, grandmaster (GM) Darwin
Laylo is out scrounging for funds for him to compete in
the 2007 World Chess Cup that starts Friday in
Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia.
The
Philippines’ lone representative to the most prestigious
individual chess tournament in world risks missing the
event because according to him, a certain official of
the the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP)
did not conscientiously attend to his need.
“Alanganin
pa,” said Laylo on his trip to the World Cup, which
he clinched after finishing in the top 10 of the Sixth
Asian Individual Chess Championship on September in
Mandaue City. “Wala pa kasi akong pamasahe papunta
’dun.”
Laylo is
the first Filipino to qualify to the World Cup through
the Asian Individual tournament Mandaue hosted, a feat
NCFP president Prospero Pichay has been proud of.
“Kaya
nga imbes na nagko-concentrate na ako ’dun sa
laban, heto ako kung saan-saan pumupunta, naghahanap ng
sponsor at ang problema wala namang makuha. Kaya
hindi ko alam kung matutuloy pa ako,” added the
27-year-old woodpusher, who meets French Super GM
Etienne Bacrot (Elo 2696) in the first round of the
World Cup.
Laylo,
who recently became the seventh Filipino GM, explained
that while he was able to book himself a flight to
Russia, he doesn’t have money to pay for the tickets. He
said his request for round-trip tickets to the
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has yet to be acted
upon.
But he
said he could not blame the PSC, which received the
request only last week.
“Akala
ko kasi matagal nang naipasa ’yung request letter,
pero nu’ng pagpunta ko sa PSC nu’ng first
week ng November para i-follow up, ang
sabi sa akin ay wala pa daw silang natatanggap na
request. Eh sabi nila [NCFP] noong pagkatapos
nu’ng Asian Individual ipapasa na agad,”
Laylo said.
Laylo
said NCFP tournament director Willie Abalos is supposed
to work on his tickets with the PSC.
Laylo is
said to be at odds with Abalos, a rift that started when
Abalos allegedly instigated an NCFP investigation into
alleged rigging of games that involved Laylo,
International Master Ronald Dableo and four other
players.
Besides
the tickets, Laylo said he was forced to book himself in
a four-star hotel because the cheaper hotels have been
fully booked.
“Puno
na daw kasi ’yung mga murang hotel kaya
mapapamahal pa ako,” he rued. “Isa pang problema
ay ’yung connecting flight from Moscow to Khanty,
nasa P20,000 din ang magagastos ko dun, hanggang
Moscow lang kasi ’yung request sa PSC.”
He also
hopes to bring Dableo along second, but that, he said,
looked impossible at this point. |
