I SUPPOSE  we could celebrate  the  life of Willie Abalos with   music, which he loved so much.  Or   with  a  bottle  of  an ice-cold   San Miguel beer and  isang platitong mani , which  he also loved.  Or with young and lovely girls, who  gravitated  around  with   him  by   nightt ime  like bees to honey.

Or  we could  celebrate  his life   again and  again  with a  game of chess, which he loved  so dearly  until  he breathed  his last at the age of 50 last May 8.

I suppose  we  could  remember  Willie as  perhaps the funniest chess official in this  side of the  64-square  universe. As his close friend, he  told  some of the  funniest, some say corniest,   jokes I’ve  ever  heard since my  kindergarten days.

But  I  suppose we could also  remember Abalos as the hardest working chess official  responsible for  putting  the  smile back on  Philippine chess.

National Chess  Federation of the  Philippines  (NCFP) president/chairman Prospero  “Butch” Pichay  and  secretary-general  and  Tagaytay City Mayor  Abraham “Bambol”  Tolentino   were  hailed  worldwide  for  their   herculean  efforts  to keep local  chess alive even during the most trying times.

Abalos  gave   them the edge.

He  did  everything  humanly  possible  to   keep chess going and going even after he was  diagnosed  with  the cancer  during  the  Asian Games chess  competitions in  Guangzhou,  China last  November.

A  true  fighter and  survivor even during  his younger days,  Abalos  battled  a cruel and unforgiving disease with the  flair  and determination of a veteran  grandmaster  facing  a  zugzwang   and  continued  his   hard   work as executive director of the NCFP  on  a  daily  basis with   his  assistant  Ilann Perez  up to his dying minutes.

He worked  hard  even while  on  sick   bed  both  in  his apartment  in  Leveriza, Malate and  the  hospital in  Quezon City  and  travelled as far as  Aklan and  Davao  City and  Subic  even against  doctor’s  advise  a  few days before he finally signed the scoresheet  announcing  his  resignation in the  early hours of  Mother’s  Day worldwide.

“I’ve  never seen somebody like  him  who worked so hard  and passionately  for  the good of chess. He will  be terribly missed  not only in  the  country but in  the  whole  chess world,” said  Pichay, who  supported  Abalos during his  difficult  six-month   battle  against  the dreaded Big C.

Asian Chess Federation official  and FIDE delegate Toti Abundo  shared  the  same sense of loss.

“We will miss  him dearly -- a  real  hard  worker for chess and a close   friend,” said Abundo, who worked   hand  in hand with Abalos in several major international chess tournaments in the country.

Abundo is  also dedicating the coming three international  chess tournaments in Subic and Tagaytay  “in  loving memory of  Willie, whose chess clock had  finally run out of time.”

Chess players, both titled and untitled,  who  witnessed  Abalos’ work  ehtics,  knew exactly  how Pichay and  Abundo felt.

But  more  than  his  hard work, Abalos will  also  be remembered  by  the local chess world for  his  chess games.

He did  not  play as well as  a Eugene Torre or a  Rogelio Antonio  or a  Mark Paragua  or a Wesley So.  But  he played with the same  passion and dedication to this royal game of  kings and knights.

And  I  honestly  think  that’s the  best  -- and only way --  for local  chess  players to  celebrate  Willie Abalos’ life:  continue  playing  chess  the  best  way they can.

Wherever he  is  now,  Abalos  must  be very happy  knowing that  all  his hard work is paying  dividends  right now  with  more  and  more  young and  talented  players  waiting for their turns  to  follow  the footsteps of Torre, Antonio, Paragua   and  So.

What can  I  say?   I  just  hope they have a little chess board and  chess  clock in  heaven  where  he  is   today. And all the  angels  would   hear  everyday  is  Abalos’ soft and gentle voice,  saying ‘ “J’adoube.” 


Abalos, who passed   away last May 8 due to lingering  illness, was  cremated at the St. Peter Memorial Homes along  Quezon  Ave. last May 12. He  left  behind a long list of  loved  ones,  friends and supporters and  an  even longer list  of chess opponents who were regularly beaten  black and blue  by Abalos  in  thousands of blitz games  played up to the wee hours of  the  night.


NOTES  -- The   Metropolitan  Chess  Club (MCC), headed   by   Soviet-trained chess instructor Mila   Emperado, is sending  a small but  talented  batch of players in the coming  Las Vegas  Open  international chess  tournament  in   Las Vegas,  USA on  June 9-12.  Two  of the players are Brian  Paul  M,  Andaya, a third year   high  school  student  of St. Clare College   (Caloocan) and  John Francis A. Ypil, a freshman college  student  of  World Citi College-Cubao.

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