The debate as to who the greatest Filipino athlete that ever lived is has no ending. There are those who argue that it should be a Filipino boxer. Pancho Villa, Flash Elorde or current hot star Manny Pacquiao easily come to mind as pugilists who deserve this singular distinction. For isn’t boxing the manliest of pursuits, with exchanging punches a top a square canvas the ultimate in athletic prowess?

Then there are the proponents of billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes who took the game once associated with seedy pool halls and back alleys from being America-centric to being something that showcased the best players from all over the world.

And then there’s Paeng Nepomuceno, the only four-time winner of the World Cup of Bowling and “Bowler of the Millennium” as named by the world’s governing body

of the sport. When Paeng began winning during the 70’s, he ignited a passion for tenpins that spread all across Southeast Asia, which is now recognized as one of the world’s best producers of kegling talent.

And we will always have adherents who will vote for Caloy Loyzaga, who led the Philippines to a third-place finish in the 1954 World Basketball Championships and was named to the Mythical Five of the said tournament.

But there is one sportsman who trumps them all in my estimation.

If impact alone upon an entire continent in one sport is concerned, nothing can top the accomplishment of 55-year old Eugenio Torre, Asia’s first grandmaster.

Chess as a propaganda tool

Chess as a game has been around for centuries, and depending on which school of thought you belong to, was developed in either China or Persia, although its current name – chess, seems to have logically been derived from “Shah” which means
“King” in Persian.

Modern chess theory started to appear in the late 19th to early 20th century and was controlled and participated in mostly by royals and religious figures that had the time and inclination to learn the intricate strategies involved in the game.

In the years after the cold war, the Soviet Union and its satellite countries excelled in the game. Chess became a propaganda tool to show the intellectual superiority of the Russians. However, in 1972, American Bobby Fischer captured the world title in an epic battle against Russian Boris Spassky.

This event galvanized the world and created a deep impression on a young Ilonggo who had already started making a name for himself locally. Eugene Torre believed chess was a game in which anyone could excel.

This was a bold idea, since at that time there was not even a single grandmaster in the entire Asian region. There were some who made the grade of international master, with Torre himself being the third Filipino (after Rudy Cardoso and Renato Naranja)
to make IM by the early 70’s.

Why Torre is Asia’s first grandmaster

Torre made the grade by topping the Asian Juniors after having won the Philippine Junior title in 1970, a year in which he also won the Philippine Open. He would make his Olympic debut later that year in Germany. He would move into the top board for the Philippines two years later in Skopje, Yugoslavia, and would

remain top board for the next 16 staging of the biennial chessfest, finally yielding board one just this past year in Greece to 22-year old super GM Mark Paragua.

In 1974, at age of 22, he captured the silver medal on Board 1 playing in the Olympiad at Nice, France and this enabled him to get the final norm to become a
grandmaster, Asia’s first ever. The Philippines finished 11th that year, the first time a
non-traditional player in the sport finished so strongly. It paved the way for other countries to believe they could replicate the feat as well.

I remember back then that local sports fans followed his exploits in that tournament fervently, and this was headline news back in the day. It was Martial Law and Filipinos needed a good news. Wasn’t the first Asian chess grandmaster proof that the administration was on the right path?

Eugene returned to thunderous adulation, so much so that a biography which detailed his rise to being a GM became a bestseller and sold out quickly. Now out of print, the book, which if I recall correctly, was entitled Beyond the 19th Move. The title refers to the way Torre achieved his norm by drawing on the 19th move of his final round game. He also starred in a movie with Vilma Santos but I vividly recalled the terms of his showbiz foray – he would not to give up his day job.

The rook is also king

In 1976, in a special four-man tournament in Manila, Torre beat then champion Anatoly Karpov in 48 moves of a Sicilian Defense game enroute to copping first place, a feat because it was the first time Karpov would not win a tournament as world champ.

It was during these times that the veritable explosion of chess occurred, not only in the Philippines but throughout Asia. India’s world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, grew up in the Philippines, learned the game here and was inspired by Torre. So is the current group of grandmasters from Vietnam, Indonesia and China, many of whom got the impetus to improve their game in order to keep up with their rivals in the Philippines.

In the 80’s, Eugene continued his hot streak as Asia’s best, reaching the quarterfinal stage of the Candidates’ series which selects the challenger to the world champion. This was 1983, and he was matched against one of Hungary’s top all-time GMs Zoltan Ribli. Torre lost that series in convincing fashion and has never come close again to that level of brilliant play.

However, this did not mean he was done. In 1987 at Thessaloniki, Torre was captain of the team that finished a best-ever seventh. With his 19th consecutive appearance at the Olympiad last year in Turin, Italy, he is now second only to Hungary’s legendary Lajos Portisch (20) in the most career Olympiads attended.

Torre has also scored the fourth-most points in the history of the event, behind Portisch long-time Argentine player Miguel Najdorf, and another ageless warhorse, Svetozar Gligoric of the former Yugoslavia. Those are indeed lofty names to be mentioned alongside with.

Now at age 55, Torre has finally been enshrined into the Hall of Fame of the Philippine Sportswriters Association, perhaps a distinction that is long overdue considering how much impact he has made in the whole of Asia with his exploits on the chessboard. He remains busy with his duties as one of the directors of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, helping teach the young guns that may one day follow his clock-stopping footsteps.

The award only enshrines his status as the “Torre” or rook that for the longest time has been our true King!