IA Gene Poliarco

I always see this frail, veteran chess arbiter in major tournaments held in Metro Manila.

IA Gene Poliarco (in spotlight) already comes as a common sight to see, if not yet an institutional image, in every big-time tournament here.

Talk about patience and tenacity. Oh wow! I saw IA Poliarco last Sunday at Duty Free Shop painstakingly encoding into electronic copy the scoresheets of the 4th PGMA Cup Open - all by himself!!

He is the reason why the PGN files of Round 1 games are now available for us to enjoy (now available at NCFP's official website). Just in case you missed my post about the Round 1 games, please watch it HERE.

Last year, I saw some younger staff doing the thing. This year, however, the committee's office seems short of staff support. I think you no longer have to ask why waiting for the PGNs of Round 2 games and onwards comes as a test of your patience.

I hate to say it, but I guess only the positive aura being emitted by the steadfastness of IA Poliarco is the only good thing there is in this year's staging of the PGMA Cup.