Pacquiao take breaks from training to play chess

Chess is one of Pacquiao's favorite pass time.
Photo courtesy of pinoychess.

Three months ago, I posted an entry HERE in my blog titled Sympathy for the Devil regarding Peter Wallace of ManilaStandard dispute on what he perceives as uncritical choice by many Filipinos to put Manny above the rest as the true national sport hero instead of Wesley So citing that;

"The real national hero is not Manny Pacquiao, it’s Wesley So, the 15-year-old chess grandmaster. What a magnificent feat—I’ll pick brains over brawn anytime. Which is not to denigrate Manny’s success but to point out how much attention he gets versus how little Wesley does. Mind you, my dad was world bridge champion and my uncle world chess champion so I’m a bit biased, but nonetheless Wesley deserves a red carpet too."

Again, many are not aware including Mr. Wallace, that today's boxing biggest star, Manny Pacquiao, is also hooked up in chess and plays the game in a regular basis. Also, there are news circulating on the web that Pacquiao will sponsor a chess tournament sometime this year. If Mr. Wallace has been informed about the fact that Pacquiao love chess, I'm convinced that he would never said anything against Filipinos view of Manny as the true national sport hero and not Wesley So for being just a "brawn". Below are excerpts from Inquirer.net article Pacman loosen up playing chess.

"Looking at the bemoustached guy playing chess Wednesday night, it’s hard to believe that he’s just two days away from a title showdown with a dangerous opponent.

Manny Pacquiao, in white shirt and red jogging pants, was slouched in the sofa making moves, studying the position and even joking around.

After the gym work, Pacquiao returns to his suite to rest and relax.

With no darts board around, Pacquiao has turned to chess which he plays quite well."

Read the full story at sports.Inquirer.net