Five persons deprived of liberty (PDL) from General Santos City Jail advance to the championship stage of the 1st Intercontinental Online Chess Tournament for Prisoners today (Oct. 14).
The team secures the top two spots together with Mongolia after defeating other PDL teams from Australia, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates, and Armenia in the elimination round held Oct. 13.
Forty-two teams representing 31 countries were divided into six groups and played in the event’s group stage. The best two teams of each category advanced to the championship round.
The Intercontinental Online Chess Tournament for Prisoners is organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) as a part of its #ChessForFreedom program. This aims to introduce chess as a tool for education and social inclusion in prisons of different countries and is carried out under 12th world champion Anatoly Karpov’s patronage.
The tournament is being played online and live-streamed on Chess TV and FIDE’s Youtube channel from Oct. 13-14, 2021.
The championship is open to teams of four players representing any correctional facility, without any restriction on the age and gender of prisoners.
Road to the international chess tournament
As a chess player, Jail Officer 1 (JO1) Cedrix Cabangal, General Santos City Jail Chess Team’s coach, keeps himself updated on FIDE’s online tournaments.
“Nakita ko nag post sila [ng] article about #chessforfreedom at nagpost din sila na magpa[pa] tournament sila para sa mga PDL. Ayun, nag-send ako ng registration, natanggap naman nila,” he recounted.
After FIDE’s confirmation last Aug. 28, JO1 Cabangal immediately organized a chess tournament for PDLs in Gensan City Jail-MD.
“Nagpa-chess tournament po ako sa mga PDL and ‘yung Top 5 out of 22 participants ‘yung pinili ko,” he said.
JO1 Cabangal said the PDLs practice every day in preparation for the competition.
“We watch videos and tutorials of games, we also analyze and review our past games. I also guide and teach them what to do during the tournament,” Cabangal added.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) chief Jail Director Allan Iral commended the efforts of JO1 Cabangal as the welfare and development officer of the facility.
“This is the first time in BJMP history that a team of PDLs will compete in an international chess tournament,” Iral said.
“Ngayon pa lang, binabati ko sila at sobrang nakaka-proud na bitbit nila ngayon ang bandila ng Plipinas sa isang international chess competition,” he added.
In his message to the team, the BJMP chief also highlighted how the BJMP is making efforts to continue welfare and development programs in jails during the pandemic.
This is not the first time that the General Santos City Jail Chess Team competed in an online chess tournament.
Last June 30, the team emerged the overall champion after defeating the PDLs of Dagupan City Jail Male Dormitory in the 1st BJMP Caraga Online Chess Tournament. (BJMP) – jlo
