UNITED States-based Grandmaster Oliver Barbosa is dreaming of representing the country again in the World Chess Olympiad someday.
While he will not be part of the five-man team the Philippines is sending to the biennial chess conclave in Batumi, Georgia, next month, Mr. Barbosa, 31, said it is still in his heart to play for country and flag in international competitions like the Olympiad.
And Mr. Barbosa, who left the country five years ago in disgust of the politics and little financial support, showed he still has it as he recently topped the 48th Continental Open in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and remained the country’s second highest rated chesser with a FIDE rating of 2545.
Mr. Barbosa downed FIDE Master Aravind Kumar of the US in the ninth and final round and then edged GMs Pavlo Vorontsov of Ukraine and Andrey Gorovets of Belarus on tiebreaks to clinch the title.
It was Mr. Barbosa’s first title since he reigned supreme in the Washington International Open last year.
“It’s always an honor to play for the Philippines, I still dream of it until now,” said Mr. Barbosa. “What happened during 2013 when they cut our allowance wasn’t resolved, their promises of retroactive allowance never happened.
“There were just too many broken promises. If they’re in my shoes and they will feel the neglect I felt, I’m sure they too will feel neglected and unappreciated and I just decided to look for other ways to make a living,” he added.
The Philippines will be represented by GM Julio Catalino Sadorra, who is also US-based like Mr. Barbosa, GM John Paul Gomez, International Masters Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Haridas Pascua and FIDE Master Mari Turqueza in Batumi.
Mr. Barbosa is just one of several Filipino wood pushers who tried their luck abroad. It included GM Wesley So, who flew to the US to chase the world title and came close to it when he once zoomed to No. 2 in the world rankings a year ago.
Mr. Barbosa said he would have loved to compete side by side with Messrs. Sadorra and Gomez, his contemporaries.
“It would have been nice to play alongside Sadorra and JP (Gomez) as we are in the same batch growing up,” said Mr. Barbosa. “As of now, I still don’t have the same drive as before, hopefully I can find it again and get that motivation to be with my countrymen.”
