Veteran woodpushers take the spotlight as the Filipinos take on strong rivals in the 2024 FIDE World Senior Chess Championship in Porto Santo, Portugal slated Nov. 16 to 29. 

The Philippine chess team seeks glory in the annual competition with International Masters Chito Garma, Efren Bagamasbad and FIDE Master Mario Mangubat at the forefront along with delegation head NM Marlon Bernardino.

Garma, a two-time Olympiad campaigner, believed that the team could deliver a remarkable performance in the tournament and that their participation could inspire the younger generations to try their sport.

“Malaki ang chance natin, sana maging fortunate kami pagdating namin do’n,” said IM Garma in Tuesday’s PSA Forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Smart/PLDT, MILO, and ArenaPlus, the country’s 24-7 sports app.

“[We want] to bring inspiration to the younger generations, inaalay ko ‘to sa mga kabataan [na] hindi pa huli ang lahat [para subukan],” he added.

Garma and Bagamasbad turned heads in their previous stints, including their domination of the Asian Seniors Chess Championships. 

“Join lang ako ng mga tournaments lang lalo kung ‘yong mga bata ang kalaban, kasi it’s not enough na theory lang ang alam mo,” said Bagamasbad. “Kailangan mag-practice ka talaga… I’ll take it one game at a time.”

Meanwhile, Mangubat, one of the well-known Cebuano chess players, made headlines when he was 20 years old and stunned Philippine chess icon and GM Eugene Torre in the late 1970s.

“Kailangan din po ng tulong na pag-pray po, sana po suportahan natin silang lahat” said NM Bernardino.

Over 300 players are expected to join the meet that has two age groups – 50+ and 65+ – in the Open and Woman categories.