Natural calamities and chess

Recent typhoons particularly Ondoy and Pepeng have brought too much pain in the lives and activities of Filipino people. Lives and resources were either washed away by raging floods or burried underground by rocks and muds.

Applied to Philippine chess, a number tournaments were affected, postponed, or canceled. The 4th PGMA Cup and the the Pichay Cup were not spared.

A number of 4th PGMA Cup participants defaulted their games due to floods. Only a few chess enthusiasts managed to watch the 5th Pichay Cup due to heavy rains and threats of possible floods.

Add to these the long scheduled chess tournaments in the provinces, particularly Pangasinan which is now submerged in water, and other local tournaments.

I am worried that SNYACC 2009 grand finalists from North and Central Luzon will surely a hard time making it on October 10 and 11 at SM Megamall.

So what now?

All I can say is that the safety of people's lives should always be the top priority.

In extreme cases:

For chess players, default the game, so what! For event organizers, postpone or cancel the event even if economically painful.

Life first before chess.

Let's just hope that the morning sun will shine on us again for us to begin another day. And then let's enjoy chess again!