KINILALA ng International Chess Federation (FIDE) si Rep. Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino bilang Honorary Member sa congress nito kaalinsabay ng 44th Chess Olympiad kamakailan sa Chennai, India.
Si Tolentino, presidente kapwa ng Philippine Olympic Committee at ng PhilCycling, ay binigyang pagkilala ng FIDE para sa kanyang “special contribution sa mundo ng chess.”
Ito ang pinakamataas na karangalan na ipinagkaloob ng FIDE General Assembly, isa sa pinakamalaking international sports organizations na may 195 member nations.
“It’s an honor to be conferred such award from the FIDE, but this honor is not for me personally, but for Philippine chess, Philippine sports and the entire country in general,” ani Tolentino. “It was also an honor to have served the FIDE, one of the international federations with the most number of member countries.”
Si Tolentino ay nagsilbing FIDE general secretary sa kanyang termino bilang presidente ng FIDE Southeast Asian Zone. Matagal siyang nagsilbi bilang general secretary ng National Chess Federation of the Philippines at binitiwan ang posisyon upang magbigay-daan sa mga bata sa eleksiyon ng national sports association.
Kinilala ng FIDE ang kanyang serbisyo at accomplishment bilang head ng POC, gayundin ang kanyang pamumuno sa SEA Games Federation nang maging host ang bansa sa 30th edition ng games noong 2019.
Ang iba pang FIDE awardees ay sins Prof. Kurt Jungwirth ng Austria, European Chess Union President mula 1990 hanggang 1998; Jorge Vega ng Mexico, American Confederation president mula 2002 hanggang 2022; at Grandmasters Vlastimil Hort ng Germany at Slim Bouaziz ng Tunisia.
