Chess is Numero Uno

It's refreshing to read from the mainstream media something about chess but not about chess. I mean, the subject had a lot to do with chess but it did not discuss anything about any opening, how one color won over the other or how excruciating the position was for the flipped-flopped minded player.

Rather, the article of Mr. Mahar Mangahas called The Great Popularity of Chess serves us (well maybe only me and my thirst for variations) a new but now so new look at the game. It helped that the story was inspired by former FIDE president, Honorable Florencio B. Campomanes.

Words from Mr. Mangahas would definitely give our bros' and sis' a big boost, specially to National Chess Federation of the Philippines:

"Chess is the No. 1 game. It turns out that chess is the Filipinos’ most popular game, meaning non-physical sport. Those citing it as the game they play most frequently are 15.6 percent in the country. This projects to 8.5 million adult chess players nationwide, based on a population of 54.1 million Filipino adults when the survey was done."

So I guess readers of this blog are all part of the 8.5 million adult chess players nationwide, excluding the 17 and under population and the unaccounted Filipinos around the world. Dude, you are not alone in your addiction, you're part of that thinking population that can hopefully appreciate the balance between reality and the abstract.

To our federation, you've got the number now show us our numbers!