Asia’s first Grandmaster Eugene Torre, graced the opening of the 4th Cong. Alan R. Dujali Nat’l Chess Open Rapid Chess Tournament at Payag Grill & Folk House, Ma. Claria Resorts compound, Panabo City.
The two-day event offers a total of PHP700,000 in cash prizes featuring team, individual open, and youth (18, 16, 14, and 10 years old and below) divisions.
Those who have registered their teams are GM Darwin Laylo; National Masters Henry Roger Lopez, Glennen Artuz, Keith Adriane Ilar and Giovanni Mejia.
Among the entries in the youth division are Beatrice Aton, Aaron Aton, Jerome Pullos, Jared Roann Marayag and Lorraine Faye Segarra.
International Arbiter James Infiesto, the tournament Chief Arbiter , stressed the need to promote chess especially among the youth while facilitating the development of the players’ skills and confidence.
“Part of providing support to our athletes is giving them the opportunity to see the people who inspire them,” Infiesto said, adding that the players will get the chance to meet Torre.
Torre was the first in Asia to earn the GM title in 1974.
He had played for the Philippine Olympiad team 23 times, winning three individual medals on board one: silver in Nice (1974) and bronze medals in Malta (1980) and Dubai (1986).
In 2021, Torre was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.In a tournament in Manila in 1976, Torre was then the only one to beat the then-reigning World Champion Anatoly Karpov in a game that has become part of Filipino chess history. In 1982 he gained a spot in the World Chess Championship candidates matches, where he lost to Zoltán Ribli. He served as Bobby Fischer’s second in the 1992 match against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia.
He currently plays for the Rizal Towers of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines.
The competition is part of the city’s grass roots chess development program and organized by Tournament director National Arbiter Darwin Bermudez in cooperation with Cong. Alan R. Dujali.
