SEA Games gold winner Bersamina wants chess in PHL curriculum

Recounting how the board game had helped him in his studies, a member of the Philippine chess team has recommended that chess to be part of the country’s school curriculum.

“Gusto ko na malagay sana ang chess sa curriculum. Malaki kasi natutulong niya sa decision-making at saka sa problem solving,” Paulo Bersamina who learned to play chess when he was just 4 years old under his father's guidance, told GMA News Online in an e-mail interview on December 6.

Photo courtesy of Paulo Bersamina (taken when he was 14 years old in a local exhibition game)

Paulo Bersamina (taken during the World Juniors Chess Championships in 2014)

He and his teammates Eugene Torre, and Darwin Laylo, have won SEA Games gold medal last December 5. 

“Nakakatulong siya sa araw-araw na pamumuhay, sa mga simpleng problema, sa academics, at kapag dumadating yung point na madami choices pwede piliin. Scholar ako dahil sa chess, kumikita din kapag nananalo sa mga competition, at nakakapunta sa ibang bansa ng libre,” the third year college student of BSEd-Math at the National University (NU) added.

Bersamina has stopped schooling, though, to focus on chess.

“Hindi muna ako mag-aaral sa ngayon dahil gusto ko makuha yung GM [grandmaster] Title,” Bersamina, who was already an IM [international master] during the 30th Southeast Asian Games, said. —LBG, GMA News

FULL COVERAGE: 30TH SEA GAMES PHILIPPINES 2019