MANILA, Philippines – Grandmaster-candidate Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. is back in the country after years of exile in the United States.

Barcenilla, now 36, quietly flew to the country alongside GM Joey Antonio to pursue his dream of becoming a GM on local soil where opportunities are now aplenty.

“I’m here to finally get my GM title,” said Barcenilla, twice denied by the FIDE, the world chess governing body, of the title due to technicality.

“I will not give up because it has been my dream for so long now,” added the two-time Asian Junior champion, former World Junior third placer and many-time Olympiad team member.

Barcenilla gained his first two norms following strong efforts in a closed GM event in Jakarta, Indonesia and the 1996 Yerevan Olympiad and would have clinched the title if FIDE did not nullify his effort in the GM tournament in Subic Bay in 1997.

Barcenilla left the country terribly disappointed, pursuing his dream instead in the US.

He picked up some wins including the 2001 Marshall Chess Club GM tournament in New York which he thought would finally earn him the GM title. Alas, he was again denied by a special FIDE committee by a mere vote.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. said he’ll help Barcenilla achieve his dream.

“I’m happy he (Barcenilla) decided to return. We have several international tournaments in the country, he could get his final GM norm here,” said Pichay during Friday’s launching of the Phoenix Petroleum and Dapitan City Battle of the Grandmasters slated late this month in Dapitan, Zaomboanga del Norte.

Barcenilla, however, will not be able to join the Battle of the GMs but vowed to join the Asian Individual Championship and the Subic Bay International Open this May.

“I have a scheduled flight back to the US on March 28 but I will be back in May to join the two tournaments,” said Barcenilla.

Barcenilla would have been the fourth GM after Eugene Torre, the late Rosendo Balinas and Antonio if not for the technicality.

Six other Filipino players have become GMs -- Bong Villamayor, Nelson Mariano II, Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo, Wesley So and Jayson Gonzales. Barcenilla said he won’t mind becoming only the 10th.

“What’s important is the GM title. It’s all that matters,” said Barcenilla.

ang tanong ngayon, ano ang suporta na binibigay ni pichay kay wesley so?

binigay nya na ba ang napako na ika nya allowance na ibibigay sa player na lalampas sa 2600?

Yes, I now remember Kramnik, he was I think 17yrs old then and his coming out party.

I think Kaspy had the superstar complex then having his own entourage and not 'mingling with the crowd'.

* Caught part of interview when it was mentioned Banjo's ascension to GM was last 'stopped' back in 2005 (maybe even earlier)

* When asked what kept him going inspite of the heartaches, Banjo just abide by the motto 'try and try until you succeed'.

* Even Banjo was surprised by his performance because he has not participated in much intl tourneys. He confided he tended to be a cautious player, but for this tournament he 'played to win' by taking some risks and this paid dividends.

* No immediate next tournament, maybe he can try the Dec year ender in Las Vegas

* He has a former Filipina chesser (Lilibeth) as wife

* They have 17 yr old only son who had no interest in chess. Think he's into Tae Kwondo thats why the dad Banjo also got immersed (now a blackbelter)

* US family business is about 5 care homes (10 clients per home), so this means theyre mainly focussed on US business, and chess is not Banjo's source of income.

* Banjo is also in touch with Pres Pichay and appreciates what the NCFP has done for Phils chess

* He takes it 'as a challenge' on Pichay's caution that if he competes in Phils, he better be ready since Pinoy chessers are now 'well honed' having been exposed to many types of competitions already.

* He was surprised that after all these years that he has a lot of supporters in the Phils (pa rin...)

Top Filipinos

<Last Friday I noted that the July 2009 FIDE Chess Rating List has already been released. Here are the top 20 Filipinos:

1. GM Wesley So 2646
2. GM Eugenio Torre 2560
3. GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. 2559
4. IM Rogelio Barcenilla 2518
5. GM John Paul Gomez 2515
6. IM Richard Bitoon 2495
7. GM Darwin Laylo 2494
8. GM Joseph Sanchez 2491
9. GM Mark Paragua 2487
10. IM Julio Catalino Sadorra 2468
11. IM Rolando Nolte 2458
12. GM Jayson Gonzales 2456
13. IM Roland Salvador 2447
14. IM Oliver Dimakiling 2434
15. IM Oliver Barbosa 2433
16. GM Bong Villamayor 2426
17. IM Rolly Martinez 2418
18. IM Ronald Dableo 2417
19. IM Kim Steven Yap 2416
20. IM Rico Mascarinas 2410

Barcenilla has reportedly earned his third and final GM norm by placing third in the Copper State International (May 29-June 3, Mesa, Arizona). Here is the decisive win against quite a strong opponent....

...I’d prefer to wait for the official FIDE announcement before putting the "GM" beside his name, though, for there had been two previous announcements of his having attained the title and both turned out to be off mark (In 1998 Elista, his GM application was denied because the performance rating required was short of a few points, while in 2000 Istanbul, his application was again denied, this time for having earned his 3rd norm in an illegal tournament format).

If everything is in order this time then "Banjo" will be the 12th International Grandmaster from the Philippines. If you look at the list given above you might remark that there are only nine GMs, so where are the other two? Well, GM Rosendo Balinas, Jr. passed away several years ago, while GM Nelson Mariano left the country to take up a teaching position in Singapore, and has not played for several years, and is now considered inactive.

Barcenilla is a two-time Asian Junior Champion and placed 3rd in the 1991 World Junior Championship held in Mamaia, Romania behind champion Vladimir Akopian and the Soviet representative Mikhail Ulibin. This is the highest place a Filipino has ever attained in the event.

He is also a three-time Olympian, having represented the Philippines in 1988 Thessaloniki, 1992 Manila, and 1996 Yerevan. His performance in Thessaloniki was very instrumental in our country’s record 7th place finish. Barcenilla had a case of jitters and lost to an outsider from Colombia in the fourth round. He was immediately benched but had to be pressed back into duty in the closing stages of the event to replace an exhausted Ruben Rodriguez. He performed a miracle, defeating China’s GM Ye Rongguang in the 12th round, drawing with England’s famous GM Murray Chandler in the 13th, and defeating Yugoslavia’s GM Ivan Sokolov in the final round....>

Twenty-two years in the making, probably came at the wheels of an excellent showing in Thessaloniki, Grecce, in the Olympiade of '88, GM Banjo Barcenilla, you have finally arrived!

Banjo returns to roots, vies in Battle of GMs
(The Philippine Star) Updated July 16, 2011 12:00 AM Comments

Manila, Philippines - Former two-time Asian Junior champion grandmaster Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr. is making a comeback in the local chess scene, competing in the National Chess Championship: 4th Battle of the Grandmasters starting today at the National Press Club in Manila.

“I last played in the country in 1999,” said Barcenilla who obtained his third and final GM norm in the 2009 Copper State International Chess Championship in Mesa, Arizona, USA.

Like many others, Barcenilla, the Asian junior champion in 1989 and 1991, points to Wesley So as the top favorite in the men’s championship offering P150,000 top prize.

Maria Antoinette San Diego, a 12-year old from Dasmariñas, Cavite, is included in the list of players vying for the women’s crown.

Barcenilla goes up against GM John Paul Gomez in the first round.

“My chance to win is as good as anybody not named Wesley,” said Gomez, runner-up to So in last year’s event.

With a record nine GMs in the men’s division, this year’s championship organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines is considered the toughest ever.

Despite that, So remains the overwhelming favorite to capture a fourth straight Battle of the Grandmasters title.

The 17-year-old Bacoor, Cavite whiz kid will begin his title retention bid against Paris, France-based GM Joseph Sanchez.

Even 12-time national champion GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. considers So as the player to beat.

“Wesley always says that he just enjoys playing chess. Well, we don’t enjoy if we’re up against him. He’s a tough nut to crack,” said Antonio, who finished in a tie for third last year. “He is definitely the favorite to rule this tournament.”

Antonio and Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre meet in a marquee match-up in the opening round.

picachu ang handle ni gm barcinella sa icc at 2nd best player ito, kung mas mababa rating nya sa chesscube ibig sabihin pahirapan ang laban doon.

His handle is simply: gm_barcenilla

During the Week 7 match between Dallas and Arizona, in the Board One game between GM Julio Sadorra and GM Rogelio Barcenilla there was a severe rules violation committed by the eventual winner, GM Barcenilla.

GM Barcenilla was detected as having “task-switched” out of ICC 24/37 moves in his game, and at the end of the game a chess engine (Houdini) was found to be running on his computer. In response to this, due to the extreme violations of Rules F9 and F10 in our rules page, the USCL TD, Chris Bird, ruled the game as a forfeit, reversing the game result and thereby changing the overall match result.

The USCL has no compelling reason to believe that any cheating or foul play occurred as both the President and Vice President examined the game in question and did not feel that cheating was likely to have occurred. However, this was clearly a huge breach of the aforementioned rules and these types of actions, whether due to cheating or not, can cause teams and fans to believe that the league is not being played honestly and thus must be dealt with very seriously.

Due to the extreme nature of this decision and the obvious effect on the standings, the Arizona team appealed the decision to the USCL advisory board, which is composed of one representative from each USCL team.

we met him during the 3.3 Zonal Championship in Tagaytay City and he was very accommodating to patzers like us.

a look-alike of Gabby Concepcion! :)