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Thursday, January 15, 2004
Paragua, GM Antonio word war breaks out
By Patrick C. Costelo
THE country’s No.1 chesser International Master Mark Paragua hit back at GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio’s criticisms in an interview yesterday.
Paragua, who blanked Antonio in last year’s Asian 3.2a Zonal sudden death playoffs and the individual rapid event in the recent Vietnam SEA Games in December, said Antonio should not flaunt his GM title and set an example for the youth.
Antonio, who together with fellow GM Bong Villamayor are dubbed the “rebel GMs” after resigning as officers of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) due to alleged mismanagement, recently criticized the 19-year-old Paragua and GM Eugene Torre’s much talked about coming exhibition match.
“He should accept that there are a lot of young players who can beat him. He’s getting old,” said Paragua referring to Antonio.
“I’m proud of my recent Fide rating. I’m glad all my sacrifices and my European campaign has bore fruit,” said Paragua, the only Filipino athlete to win three golds in the Seag, reacting to Antonio’s statement that he is not the country’s top player.
“Antonio is not a sport. He threw the pieces, despite an international audience, when I beat him in the Asian 3.2a Zonal. He’s a sore loser. But I still gave him a P20,000 share (of the prize I won) even if he had earlier said there would be no sharing.
“I don’t want to say this but he’s been saying too much. I remember a few years ago he told me I’d only be good at blitz chess,” added Paragua.
(January 15, 2004 issue)
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