BUOYED by its success in the recent PCAP All-Filipino Conference where they reached the quarterfinal round, the Rizal BATCH Towers hope to perform even better in the PCAP-GM Wesley So Cup beginning this week.

Led by Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre and IM Rolando Nolte and managed by Barangays Achieving Thru Chess (BATCH) founder Eduardo Madrid, the Towers tapped Filipino-Canadian Dr. Gilbert “Bong” Perez as import in the prestigious 24-team competition.

“Dr. Perez is a good addition to our team. He has long and solid playing experience. And even after he migrated to Canada, he continues to play chess with passion,” said Madrid in a message to People’s Tonight.

“The whole team, led GM Torre is happy to have him in our team as we try to improve our quarterfinal finish,” added Madrid, who also appointed Salvador “Boyet” Tardecilla as team coordinator.

Aside from Torre and Nolte, the other members of the Rizal team are FM Mari Joseph Turqueza, NM Elias Lao Jr. NM Noel Dela Cruz NM Robert Arellano, Kris Angelique Melicano, Marlon Constantino AGM Herman Vallente and Jose Villaceran.

Rizal finished fifth with 23-11 win-loss record in the elimination but lost to Caloocan in the quarterfinals.

Perez is a well-known player-coach-manager in Parañaque before migrating to Brandon, Canada in 2017 to join his four grown daughters.

A retired doctor, the 60-year-old Perez continued to play chess

Perez, who contracted polio when he was only two years old, represented Canada in the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad for People with Disabilities last Nov. 20-Dec. 3.

“Chess is my passion,” said Perez in an interview published in Brandon Sun, a daily newspaper for Brandon and the surrounding area of southwestern Manitoba.

A member of Brandon Wheelchair Sports and Leisure, Perez said he hopes to get more kids in Brandon interested in chess.

“I want to put chess tournaments all over Brandon, school by school That’s my dream,” Perez told Brandon Sun.

His other dream is to teach chess to people with disabilities, including children who have lost their sight and need to use special chess boards and pieces.

“They can touch, they can play,” said Perez, who can walk small distances, but spends most of his days in a wheelchair.

Perez, who now lives in Brandon with his four children, said he started playing chess when he was eight.

His boyhood heroes were American champion Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.

Rizal is one of 12 teams in the PCAP Northern Conference, along with Laguna Heroes, San Juan Predators, Caloocan Load Manna Knights, Manila Indios Bravos, Cavite Spartans, Pasig Pirates, Antipolo Cobras, Isabela Knight Raiders, Olongapo Rainbow, Cagayan Kings and Quezon City Simba’s Tribe.

The Southern Conference will feature Camarines Soaring Eagles, Iloilo Kisela Knights, Negros Kingsmen, Zamboanga Sultans, Toledo City Trojans, Lapu-Lapu City Naki Warriors, Mindoro Tamaraws, Cordova Dagami Warriors, Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates, Cebu City Machers, Palawan Queen’s Gambits and Iriga City Oragons,

PCAP is headed by President-Commissioner Atty Paul Elauria and Chairman Michael Angelo Chua.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), headed by Chairman Abraham “Baham” Mitra.