2nd National Age Group 2009

Some readers of this blog have been sending me text messages inquiring about the NCFP's staging of the 2nd National Age Group 2009.

This second national age group competition serves as a selection stage for choosing the country's bets to the World Youth Chess Championships which will be held on November 11 to 23 in Antalya, Turkey.

By the way, the NCFP made changes in the schedule of this event. The previously announced date of August 28 to 31 at the Victory Central Mall in Caloocan Citywas moved to August 27 to 31. A day of competion was moved because no games will be played on August 30. It was reported in the NCFP website that the venue will not be available on that date.

OK, back to the main concern of this post - that is, the questions raised by readers of this blog.

Basically, their questions boil down to three:

Question No.1: How much is the entry fee?

Question No.2: How many players will be selected per age-group to be sent as the country's representatives to WYCC?

Question No.3: What are other requirements for registration?

The press release, or the announcement made by the NCFP in its website, didn't tackle these questions.

That's why I cannot respond to the questions of my readers.

As a service to my readers, I tried to call NCFP for the answers.

So I dialed 536-8507, NCFP's telephone number displayed on its official website. The phone rang and somebody said the number I dialed does not belong to the NCFP. Hah? Oh my, i dialed that number because that was the one displayed on NCFP's website.

The person on the line was courteous and gave me two more numbers to dial.

One is 525-2854. I dialed . . . "The telephone number you dialed is not yet in service."

So I tried the other number, 522-1414 . . . "The telephone number you dialed is not yet in service."

Uh-oh. The initial dismay didn't stop me to be resourceful. I tried scrolling from and among NCFP posts and found a new number 381-7224 which was just recently provided as of August 14.

I dialed that number, it rang . . . "The number you dialed is out of coverage area or unit is turned off. Please try again later."

Uh-oh. I tried a little further. I texted the present NCFP Executive Director to his announced contact cell phone numbers – 09285513089, 09292266210, 09292390644.

At last! I found the answers:

Answer No.1: P250.00 entry fee per player

Answer No.2: Only the champion per age group will be selected to compete for WYCC

Answer No.3: Bring your birth certificate

I'm not sure if it's NCFP Executive Director Willie Abalos who texted me back. But whoever he is, thank you very much.

Let's hope to see a swarm of participants in this event and may the best kids win. Go Philippines!