Eugenio Torre
Encyclopedia
Eugenio Torre is a chess
Grandmaster
(GM). He is considered the strongest chess player the Philippines
has ever produced during the 1980s and 1990s period, following the heels of Fischer
-era Filipino chess champions National Master (NM) Ramon Lontoc, International Master (IM) Renato Naranja
, IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso
and GM Rosendo Balinas, Jr
. Super GM Wesley So
is currently the top Philippine chess player.
Torre has the distinction of being the first Asian player to earn the title of International Grandmaster. He qualified for the Candidates Matches
for the 1984 World Championship
. In that preliminary stage, the contenders play matches against each other to determine who will challenge the world champion. Torre was eliminated when he lost his match against Zoltán Ribli
by a score of 6-4.
After losing his quarter-final candidates match to Zoltán Ribli in 1983, Torre became disillusioned with chess and more or less went into semi-retirement. He went on to become a minor celebrity due to his daily one hour TV programme Chess Today.
donned the national colors 20 times in the World Chess Olympiad
, 19 of which consecutively to break the old record of 18 consecutive held by Heikki Westerinen
. His 20 non-consecutive appearances tied the record made by Hungary's Lajos Portisch
. During that 40-year period, he manned the top board for Team Philippines for a record 17 times except in the 1970 (Siegen, Germany), 2006 (Turin, Italy) and 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) editions. In that stretch, Torre had played in 236 games winning 86 games, drawing
111 games and lost 39 games for a grand total of 141½ points. The high point of his Olympiad career was winning the Bronze Medal thrice in the Individual Standings in Board 1, at the 21st Chess Olympiad
(1974 Nice, France) where he went undefeated in 19 games (nine wins and ten draws) for a total of 14 points for a 73.7% performance; 24th Chess Olympiad
(1980 Valletta, Malta) where he scored 11 points in 14 games (nine wins, four draws, and one loss) for a performances of 78.6% and lastly in the 27th Chess Olympiad
(1986 Dubai, UAE) where he garnered 9½ points in 13 games (seven wins, five draws, and one loss) with a 73.1% performance.
In 1988, Torre captained the Philippine team to its best-ever seventh-place finish in the Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki
, Greece. breaking the previous high of 11th place finish at the 21st Chess Olympiad.
He also has taken part in six Asian Chess Team Championships (1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1993). Torre has an outstanding record at this tournament where he bagged the Gold Medal in the Individual Standings in Board 1 in the 1977 (Auckland, New Zealand), 1979 (Singapore), 1981 (Hangzhou, China) and 1983 (New Delhi, India) editions. He also won the Bronze Medal in the 1993 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) edition. In all six team championships, Torre manned the top board for Team Philippines.
In 2002 and 2004, Torre manned the top board once again for Team Philippines in the 13th and 14th editions of the Asian Cities Chess Championships. The 13th edition was held at Aden, Yemen and Torre scored 5½ points in nine games on the strength of three wins, five draws and one loss while Manila, Philippines hosted the 14th edition where he scored 5 points in eight games (four wins, two draws, and two losses).
In the 16th Asian Games
, Torre helped the Philippines finished second behind China, beating the Indian Team in the semifinals to secure the silver medal.
He also played Board 3 in the World Student Chess Team Championships in 1969 although he lost his one and only game in the said tournament.
In 2010, Torre competed in the 3rd Calgary International Chess Championships held at Alberta, Canada where he flashed his vintage form by finishing in a tie for second through fourth places on the strength of four wins, four draws and a solitary loss against GM Victor Mikhalevski, the tournament top seed with ELO Rating of 2614. Torre had an ELO Rating of 2506 during the said tournament.
In 2011, Torre joined two prestigious international chess championships in the Philippines, the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championships and the 2nd Chairman Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. Cup International Open Chess Championships. He finished in a tie for 15th-21st places in the Asian Zonals eventually placing 18th after tiebreaks (5 points out of nine games on four wins, three losses, and two draws). It was a poor finish for Torre as he had a four-game winning streak from rounds 2 to 5 after an opening round loss to FM Haridas Pascua to take the lead after five rounds but faltered in the last four rounds where he scored only 1 point (two draws and two losses). He had a low performance rating of 2344 in this tournament. In the 2nd Pichay Cup, he improved a little bit by scoring 6½ points in 10 games to finish in a tie for 11th - 18th places eventually finishing in 14th place (four wins, five draws, and one loss). This is another heartbreaker as he was stalled by five draws despite losing only one fame to Chinese Lu Shanglei
. In this tournament he had a performance rating of 2496.
. He worked on Fischer's team in his 1992 rematch with Boris Spassky
in Yugoslavia. Much later, Torre conducted interviews on Filipino radio with Bobby Fischer. Those interviews gained notoriety for Fischer and despair for his fans. Torre was involved in 1996 when Fischer Random Chess was launched. One anecdote during this period has it that when Torre and Fischer boarded a taxi in Buenos Aires, the driver immediately recognized Torre as a chess player. As both were about to leave the taxi, the driver, not knowing who the other distinguished passenger was, asked Torre: "Whatever happened to that crazy guy Fischer?"
in a game that has become part of Filipino chess history.
in the 1972 Skopje Olympiad, he assumed the top board (Board 1) for Team Philippines, a position he held until the 2004 Olympiad held at Mallorca, Spain (a total of 17 Olympiads, a world record)
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
(GM). He is considered the strongest chess player the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
has ever produced during the 1980s and 1990s period, following the heels of Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
-era Filipino chess champions National Master (NM) Ramon Lontoc, International Master (IM) Renato Naranja
Renato Naranja
Renato Naranja is an International Master of chess from the Philippines.He is Philippine Junior Champion in 1958 and Philippine Adult Champion in 1965. In 1959, he placed 9th in world junior championship U20 in Münchenstein...
, IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso
Rodolfo Tan Cardoso
Rodolfo Tan Cardoso is a Philippine chess International Master.In 1956, he won Philippine Junior Championship. In 1957, he took 5th in Toronto ; William Lombardy won)...
and GM Rosendo Balinas, Jr
Rosendo Balinas, Jr.
Rosendo Carreon Balinas, Jr. was a chess Grandmaster from the Philippines. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1975 and the International Grandmaster title in 1976...
. Super GM Wesley So
Wesley So
Wesley So is a Filipino chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days, making him the 8th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess. Before becoming a Grandmaster, So had become the youngest Filipino...
is currently the top Philippine chess player.
1976–1983
GM Torre shot to prominence in 1976 as a possible future title challenger after winning a strong four-man tournament in Manila ahead of world champion Anatoly Karpov – thus becoming the first player to finish ahead of Karpov in a tournament since the latter became world champion. The high-point of his career came in the early 1980s when he was ranked world No.17; successfully going on to qualify to be a candidate for the world championship after tying for first with Lajos Portisch during the 1982 Toluca Interzonal.Torre has the distinction of being the first Asian player to earn the title of International Grandmaster. He qualified for the Candidates Matches
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
for the 1984 World Championship
World Chess Championship 1984
The World Chess Championship 1984 was a match between challenger Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov for the World Chess Championship title...
. In that preliminary stage, the contenders play matches against each other to determine who will challenge the world champion. Torre was eliminated when he lost his match against Zoltán Ribli
Zoltan Ribli
Zoltán Ribli is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter . He was twice a World Championship Candidate and three times Hungarian Champion.-A career in chess:...
by a score of 6-4.
After losing his quarter-final candidates match to Zoltán Ribli in 1983, Torre became disillusioned with chess and more or less went into semi-retirement. He went on to become a minor celebrity due to his daily one hour TV programme Chess Today.
Olympiads and Team Championships
From 1970 to 2010, the former business administration undergraduate from Mapúa Institute of TechnologyMapúa Institute of Technology
Mapúa Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila and in Makati....
donned the national colors 20 times in the World Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
, 19 of which consecutively to break the old record of 18 consecutive held by Heikki Westerinen
Heikki Westerinen
Heikki Markku Julius Westerinen is a Finnish chess player, born in Helsinki.He became a national master at age sixteen, and earned the FIDE titles of International Master in 1967 and Grandmaster in 1975....
. His 20 non-consecutive appearances tied the record made by Hungary's Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
. During that 40-year period, he manned the top board for Team Philippines for a record 17 times except in the 1970 (Siegen, Germany), 2006 (Turin, Italy) and 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) editions. In that stretch, Torre had played in 236 games winning 86 games, drawing
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
111 games and lost 39 games for a grand total of 141½ points. The high point of his Olympiad career was winning the Bronze Medal thrice in the Individual Standings in Board 1, at the 21st Chess Olympiad
21st Chess Olympiad
The 21st Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between June 6 and June 30, 1974, in Nice, France.-References:* OlimpBase...
(1974 Nice, France) where he went undefeated in 19 games (nine wins and ten draws) for a total of 14 points for a 73.7% performance; 24th Chess Olympiad
24th Chess Olympiad
The 24th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 20 and December 6, 1980, in La Valletta, Malta.-References:* OlimpBase...
(1980 Valletta, Malta) where he scored 11 points in 14 games (nine wins, four draws, and one loss) for a performances of 78.6% and lastly in the 27th Chess Olympiad
27th Chess Olympiad
The 27th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 14 and December 2, 1986, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.-References:...
(1986 Dubai, UAE) where he garnered 9½ points in 13 games (seven wins, five draws, and one loss) with a 73.1% performance.
In 1988, Torre captained the Philippine team to its best-ever seventh-place finish in the Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki
28th Chess Olympiad
The 28th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 12 and November 30, 1988, in Thessaloniki, Greece.-References:...
, Greece. breaking the previous high of 11th place finish at the 21st Chess Olympiad.
He also has taken part in six Asian Chess Team Championships (1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1993). Torre has an outstanding record at this tournament where he bagged the Gold Medal in the Individual Standings in Board 1 in the 1977 (Auckland, New Zealand), 1979 (Singapore), 1981 (Hangzhou, China) and 1983 (New Delhi, India) editions. He also won the Bronze Medal in the 1993 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) edition. In all six team championships, Torre manned the top board for Team Philippines.
In 2002 and 2004, Torre manned the top board once again for Team Philippines in the 13th and 14th editions of the Asian Cities Chess Championships. The 13th edition was held at Aden, Yemen and Torre scored 5½ points in nine games on the strength of three wins, five draws and one loss while Manila, Philippines hosted the 14th edition where he scored 5 points in eight games (four wins, two draws, and two losses).
In the 16th Asian Games
Asian Games
The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games they have been organised by the...
, Torre helped the Philippines finished second behind China, beating the Indian Team in the semifinals to secure the silver medal.
He also played Board 3 in the World Student Chess Team Championships in 1969 although he lost his one and only game in the said tournament.
Later career
In 2006, Torre participated in the 2nd San Marino International Chess Open where he tied for fourth through eleventh places with 6½ points in nine rounds where he eventually placed seventh after the tie-breaks becoming the highest-placed Filipino in the said tournament. He had a performance rating of 2612 at the said tournament and won €1,000 for his seventh-place finish.In 2010, Torre competed in the 3rd Calgary International Chess Championships held at Alberta, Canada where he flashed his vintage form by finishing in a tie for second through fourth places on the strength of four wins, four draws and a solitary loss against GM Victor Mikhalevski, the tournament top seed with ELO Rating of 2614. Torre had an ELO Rating of 2506 during the said tournament.
In 2011, Torre joined two prestigious international chess championships in the Philippines, the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championships and the 2nd Chairman Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. Cup International Open Chess Championships. He finished in a tie for 15th-21st places in the Asian Zonals eventually placing 18th after tiebreaks (5 points out of nine games on four wins, three losses, and two draws). It was a poor finish for Torre as he had a four-game winning streak from rounds 2 to 5 after an opening round loss to FM Haridas Pascua to take the lead after five rounds but faltered in the last four rounds where he scored only 1 point (two draws and two losses). He had a low performance rating of 2344 in this tournament. In the 2nd Pichay Cup, he improved a little bit by scoring 6½ points in 10 games to finish in a tie for 11th - 18th places eventually finishing in 14th place (four wins, five draws, and one loss). This is another heartbreaker as he was stalled by five draws despite losing only one fame to Chinese Lu Shanglei
Lu Shanglei
Lu Shanglei is a Chinese Chess Grandmaster, who is the Number One rated Under-16 chessplayer in Asia and the Number Five rated chessplayer in that age group in the world....
. In this tournament he had a performance rating of 2496.
Relations with Fischer
Torre was a friend of Bobby FischerBobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
. He worked on Fischer's team in his 1992 rematch with Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
in Yugoslavia. Much later, Torre conducted interviews on Filipino radio with Bobby Fischer. Those interviews gained notoriety for Fischer and despair for his fans. Torre was involved in 1996 when Fischer Random Chess was launched. One anecdote during this period has it that when Torre and Fischer boarded a taxi in Buenos Aires, the driver immediately recognized Torre as a chess player. As both were about to leave the taxi, the driver, not knowing who the other distinguished passenger was, asked Torre: "Whatever happened to that crazy guy Fischer?"
Notable games
In a tournament in Manila in the 1976, Torre beat then reigning world chess champion Anatoly KarpovAnatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
in a game that has become part of Filipino chess history.
Karpov versus Torre, Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f4 b5 10.Qe1 Nxd4 11.Rxd4 Qb6 12.Rd2 Be7 13.Bd3 b4 14.Nd1 Bb5 15.Nf2 h6 16.Bh4 g5 17.fxg5 hxg5 18.Bg3 Nh5 19.Ng4 Nxg3 20.hxg3 Rxh1 21.Qxh1 Rc8 22.Kb1 Bxd3 23.cxd3 Qd4 24.Qd1 a5 25.Nh2 g4 26.Nxg4 Bg5 27.Rc2 Rxc2 28.Kxc2 a4 29.a3 b3 30.Kb1 d5 31.exd5 Qxd5 32.Nf2 Qxg2 33.Ne4 Be3 34.Nc3 Qc6 35.d4 Qc4 36.d5 e5 37.Qh1 Qd3+ 38.Ka1 Bd4 39.Qh8+ Kd7 40.Qa8 Qf1+ 41.Nb1 Qc4 42.Qb7+ Kd6 43.Qb8+ Kxd5 44.Qd8+ Ke6 45.Qe8+ Kf5 46.Qd7+ Kg6 47.Qg4+ Kf6 48.Nc3 Qf1+ 0-1
Awards and achievements
- Asia's first Grandmaster at the age of 22
- 1970 Philippine Junior and Adult Champion
- 1974 Nice, France Chess Olympiad, Bronze Medalist in Board 1 going undefeated in 19 matches with 9 wins and 10 draws for 14 points/19
- 1976 The Marlboro-Loyola Kings Challenge, Champion (becoming the first player to finish ahead of Anatoly Karpov since becoming world champion)
- 1977 Asian Chess Team Championships, 1st place (6.0 points/7)
- 1980 La Valletta, Malta Chess Olympiad, Bronze Medalist in Board 1 scoring 11 points/14 (9 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss)
- 1983 Asian Chess Team Championships, 1st place in Board 1 (8.5 points/9)
- 1986 Dubai, UAE Chess Olympiad, Bronze Medalist in Board 1 garnering 9.5 points/13 (7 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss)
- 1993 Asian Chess Team Championships, 3rd place in Board 1 (6.5 points/9)
- 2002 Philippine National Championships, Champion
- 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Silver Medal (Men's Standard Team Event)
- 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Bronze Medal (Men's Individual Rapid Chess)
- 2005 5th Bangkok Chess Club Open, 2nd Place (7.5/9 lost in tiebreak to GM Ian Rogers)
- 2006 2nd San Marino International Chess Open, 7th place
- 2008 3rd President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) Cup, Champion (7.0/9)
- 2010 3rd Calgary International Chess Classic, 2nd Place (6.0/9, tied with IMs Renier Castellanos and Edward Porper)
- 2010 20th Appearance at Chess Olympiad equaling with Lajos Portisch
- Once ranked as high as No. 17 in the world in the 1980s
- Has appeared in the Chess Olympics for 20 consecutive times equaling Lajos Portisch of Hungary who also played in 20 Olympiads.
- played Board 2 for Team Philippines in the 1970 Chess Olympiad at Siegen, Germany behind International Master Renato Naranja
in the 1972 Skopje Olympiad, he assumed the top board (Board 1) for Team Philippines, a position he held until the 2004 Olympiad held at Mallorca, Spain (a total of 17 Olympiads, a world record)
- played Top Board in the following Olympiads: Skopje 1972, Nice 1974 (where he got his GM title and led the Philippines to a then unprecedented 11th place finish), Haifa 1976, Buenos Aires, 1978, Malta 1980, Lucerne 1982, Thessaloniki 1984, Dubai 1986, Thessaloniki 1988 (where the Philippines recorded its best finish at 7th place), Novi Sad 1990, Manila 1992, Moscow 1994, Yerevan 1996, Elista 1998, Istanbul 2000, Bled 2002 and Calvià de Mallorca 2004
- at the 2006 Olympiad at Turin, Italy, gave way to Super GM Mark Paragua on top board as he played Board 2 for only the second time in his entire Olympics career
- after 19 consecutive Chess Olympiads, Torre has recorded 86 wins, 111 draws and 39 losses in 236 games for a total score of 141.5 points, fourth over-all in Olympiad history behind Lajos Portisch (176.5/260 games), Miguel Najdorf (145/222 games) and Svetozar Gligorić (142.5/223 games)
External links
- http://calgarychess.com/Executive.html Calgary Chess Club Executives
- http://www.albertachess.org/2010CICC/Players.html Calgary International Player List