Hayco challenges chess leaders to expand grassroots base

“More memberships mean a bigger chance of discovering another Eugene Torre,” Hayco said during the opening of a chess tournament in Malolos, Bulacan, which he attended alongside Asia’s first Grandmaster.

Hayco urged local chess officials to aggressively “market and commercialize” the sport, including maximizing social media platforms like TikTok, to attract the youth.

“Popularize chess in all 47,000 public schools. Now is the time. You can’t expect to find the next GM Eugene Torre from a pool of just 1,000 players,” he said, noting that the Philippine Chess Federation (PCF) in Bulacan currently has around 1,000 members.

According to Hayco, scaling up membership to one million players would dramatically increase both the talent pool and financial resources for the sport.

“If the PCF charges P500 per year and has only 1,000 members, that’s P500,000 annually. But imagine one million members — that’s significant funding to support development programs,” he said.

He cited taekwondo as an example, noting that with a P50 pesos annual membership fee and massive participation, the sport generates around P50 million annually.

Hayco also encouraged chess leaders to adopt the “scaling up” principle used by PSC Chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio.

“We don’t operate like a small carinderia. We think big. Instead of one store, we operate 1,000. Same energy, bigger scale,” said Hayco, a businessman and former Cebu Sports Commission head.

A veteran sports development advocate, Hayco previously spearheaded community-based programs in Cebu, including DanceSports for Kids and regional archery initiatives that nurtured out-of-school youth and orphans.

He emphasized that investing in grassroots sports programs not only produces champions but also keeps young people away from drugs and other vices.

“Sports can change lives,” Hayco said.