An Anime Plot-Like History
The Chess Club at ICCT Colleges has a long and proud history of producing skilled and competitive players who have represented the institution in various tournaments and events.
However, due to various factors, such as the shift to online learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic and due to lack of student participation, the club has been inactive for some time. It is now our responsibility to revive the legacy that was once upheld by our alumni at ICCT Colleges.
Your support will allow us to revive the Chess Club and make it a vibrant and dynamic part of the ICCT community once again.
The Revival of ICCT Chess Club
The club was initially revived as an “unofficial” online student chess community in September 17, 2023 by three students: Matthew Johannes Balubar, Neoh Bongco, and Cy (who was also establishing a Taekwondo club at the time). We recruited new members through invitations and outreach via Messenger and our campus Facebook group page, encouraging members to challenge each other in online chess matches. From 3 members, we grew to 10, then 20, and eventually reached the 50-member limit.
One of our biggest challenges on that time was getting approval from the school administrators and finding a club adviser. These circumstances had made it difficult for us to scale the club through mass recruitment, which also prevented us from launching our own initiatives/events inside the campus “legitimately”.
A New Opportunity Arises
Following an official announcement from our campus Sports Department about new varsity try-outs for the upcoming ISAA chess tournament, we seized the opportunity to collaborate with our Sports Coordinators, Mam RA Platon (now retired) and Sir Renz Dasalle. Our goal was to organize the try-outs and open a new door for our club to become an official part of the student organizations at ICCT Colleges. With our existing members, we were well-prepared to participate in the event.
After our successful collaboration with the Sports Department in recruiting and organizing the Chess Varsity Try-Outs on October 28, 2023, Sir Renz Da Salle and Mam RA Platon encouraged us to formalize our club’s engagement. They suggested that becoming a recognized part of the school organization would help in their efforts to scout new talents legitimately and start rebuilding our campus chess scene. This has paved the way for our club to revive our campus chess scene once again!
The 10-Month Struggle to Official Recognition
Finding a qualified club adviser was our first challenge. Fortunately, all the faculty recommendations pointed us to one professor, Sir Jerico Vilog, who not only had plans to create his own chess club but also had prior experience in running chess clubs. Together with Tyron Roan, our club’s first Coordinator, we pitched our plans for running a chess club on campus. Sir Jerico approved our proposal to act as an Adviser for our club on February 1, 2024.
After months of back-and-forth revisions and printing, we successfully obtained approval for our Constitutions & Bylaws from our VP of Academic Affairs, Sir Renato Paringit, on June 25, 2024. This marked the official recognition of the ICCT Chess Club as one of the official and recognized student organizations at ICCT Colleges.
The Beginning of a New Era
Our club launch announcement was officially made during the CCS Week 2024 on June 25, 2024 (The College of Computer Studies (CCS) has made a blog about it) that marks the new rebirth of our club.
We’ve also collaborated with Sir Rommuel Cayaban Gatacilo (Sir Gat) during the Sportsfest – Human Chess 2K24 for tournament sponsorship last July 28, 2024 to help facilitate the event and tease the upcoming launch of ICCT Chess Club for S.Y 2025-2026.
From this point forward, our heritage continues as we aim to be the premier chess team, leading the charge in the ISAA and major academic chess competitions throughout the Philippines.
