Muere Florencio Campomanes, ex presidente de la FIDE

El filipino Florencio Campomanes ex presidente de la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez (FIDE) murió hoy en la ciudad de filipina de Baguío, divulgó la entidad en su sitio web.

Campomanes, de 83 años y titular de la FIDE de 1982 a 1995, falleció víctima de un cáncer.

El asiáticó alcanzó como jugador la categoría de Maestro Nacional, pero adquirió relevancia mundial como presidente de la máxima organización del ajedrez en el orbe.

Al frente de la FIDE aumentó la influencia de esa entidad en el mundo del deporte y multiplicó los recursos económicos de dicho organismo, así como los premios para los jugadores.

Durante sus 13 años de mandato afrontó también situaciones delicadas, como la interrupción del legendario primer encuentro por el título mundial entre el ruso Anatali Karpov y el azerí Garri Kasparov, y el cisma en que se vio envuelto el ajedrez en 1993.

Presidente honorario de la FIDE desde 1995, Campo, como era conocido por los amantes de los trebejos, mantuvo una intensa actividad desde entonces pero su salud se deterioró en el último año.

Su sucesor en la presidencia de la FIDE, Kirsam Ilyumzhínov, transmitió sus condolencias a la familia de Campomanes, de quien agradeció todo lo que hizo por el ajedrez.

 Source: FIDE

Obituary - Honorary President Campomanes

Monday, 03 May 2010 09:10

It is with very great sadness that we have learned that FIDE Honorary President, Florencio Campomanes has passed away. A detailed news will be published here soon...  Please read Casto Abundo's news below... Florencio Campomanes, FIDE President from 1982 to 1995, passed away 1:30 pm today, 3rd May in Baguio City, Philippines after a bout with cancer. He was 83. FIDE joins together in sending condolences to his family and to the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said by phone "I thank him many many many times for all he has done for chess. Please send my condolence to his family." Campo's family is in Baguio City for the cremation services as he willed and they said "Whatever memorials federations around the world will do in Campo's memory will be much appreciated. After his February 2007 accident in Turkey, his recovery was a miracle, and the additional years he had with us was a gift from God." I wrote an article about Campo's life in chess which can be downloaded from the FIDE site: http://www.fide.com/images/stories/NEWS/download/campolegacy.doc After his recovery from from his 2007 car accident, he continued to be active in FIDE, Asian and Philippine chess until his bout with cancer reached terminal stage four last year. He was still strong and hearty on his 83rd birthday last February 22nd but his health quickly deteriorated. I was at his bedside at the Notre Dame Hospital in Baguio City on 1st May. As I thanked him for all our chess years together, he smiled and said "We had fun." campeonatos del mundo. Campo y Casto Abundo jugando en el Torneo Presidencial de Ajedrez Relámpago en Antalya (Turquía),unos pocos días antes del accidente automovilístico de Campomanes en enero/febrero de 2007

 

The great popularity of chess

Source: Inquirer.net (Inquirer Opinion/ Columns) By Mahar Mangahas Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 01:28:00 05/30/2009

This piece is inspired by Florencio B. Campomanes, honorary president of the World Chess Federation, whom I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time a few days ago in Baguio City. We met through mutual friend Ed de Jesus, president of the University of the Cordilleras, who had invited me to lead a workshop with his faculty on the ABCs of survey research (which I will write on next time).

Despite his age, the maestro is well-recovered from a recent bad car accident, and his mind is as sharp as ever. Campo (as he likes being addressed) asked me if there is any survey on how many Filipinos play chess, and at what age do they begin. He believes that national excellence in chess comes from mass participation in it, if possible starting at the age of five.

Campo’s question can be answered, partially, from the national Survey of Leisure Time and Sports (LTS), done on March 30-April 2, 2008 for the International Social Survey Program, of which Social Weather Stations is a member. Such surveys only cover adults, which in the Philippines means people aged 18 and up.

The LTS survey has separate items on sports which are also physical activities (of which the most popular among Filipinos is, naturally, basketball) and those which are non-physical, called “games” instead. It asks: “Thinking about games rather than sports or physical activities, what type of game do you play most frequently?”

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.

Chess is relatively more popular in Metro Manila, where it is cited by 20 percent, than in the rest of Luzon (18 percent), in Visayas, and in Mindanao (the last two both 12 percent).

Chess is much more a man’s game (26 percent) than a woman’s game (5 percent).

Chess gets less popular as people get older—with percentages of 21 in the 18-24 age group, 20 in the 25-34 group, 17 in the 35-44 group, 13 in the 45-54 group, and 5 among those of 55 and up.

The popularity of chess grows with education and socio-economic class. It is the favorite game of only 1 percent of those who didn’t finish elementary school, 10 percent of those with some high schooling, 20 percent of those with some college, and 26 percent of college graduates. Only 11 percent of class E adults, compared to 24 percent of class ABC adults, call chess their favorite game.

I certainly agree with Campo that children should play chess. I learned it at age seven (and am a low-grade player) and recall that almost all my relatives and friends of the same age could also play chess. But another survey is needed to get numbers on chess-playing among children of age 5 to 17.

Incidentally, another item of the LTS survey finds that 90 percent of Filipino adults agree, and only 5 percent disagree, that “Taking part in sports develops children’s character.”

Other popular games: The second most popular is card games (of all types). This was cited by 9.5 percent, which amounts to 5.1 million players.

Third are video games, a category including computer games, playstation, pinball etc., which was cited by 5.1 percent (2.7 million players).

Tied for fourth, at 4.0 percent (2.2 million players) each, are gambling games (lotto, jueteng, casino games, etc.) and board games (scrabble, monopoly, etc.) At sixth, with 2.2 percent (1.2 million players), is word/number games (crosswords, sudoku). Seventh is dominoes: 1.4 percent or 0.8 million. Eighth is mahjong: 1.2 percent or 0.7 million. Fifty-five percent said they do not play any game.

Sports and national pride. To the LTS question, “How proud are you when the Philippines does well in international sports or games competition,” 74 percent said very proud (talagang ipinagmamalaki) and 19 percent said somewhat proud (medyo ipinagmamalaki). Only 7 percent were either not very proud or not proud at all.

National pride in sports tends to rise with education—from 63 percent among elementary dropouts to 78 percent among college graduates.

On the statement “The Philippine government should spend more money on sports,” it turns out that opinions are divided—47 percent agreeing and 36 percent disagreeing. It seems to me that the Philippines has achieved so much in four international sports—billiards, bowling, boxing and chess—even without much help from the government.

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