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ILOILO CITY — Asia’s first grandmaster, Eugene Torre, will celebrate his birthday with long-time friends and supporters during the Chess Legend: GM Eugene Torre’s 75th Birthday National Rapid Open and Team Tatluhan Chess Championships on Nov. 4 at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Iloilo City.
Torre will share center stage with Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas, One Chess Movement Chairman Lope Santos III, and OCM CEO Ariel Potot during the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the GM Eugene Torre Exhibit and Coffee Table Book launch at 5 p.m.
Santos will give the welcome remarks, while Mayor Treñas will deliver the inspirational remarks for the five-day event sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
An acceptance speech by Torre is scheduled at 6 p.m., followed by the ceremonial cutting of the cake and the singing of the birthday song.
OCM Board Member Engr.Romulo Darroca will make the closing acknowledgements.
“Iloilo, nicknamed City of Love, will take the limelight as the country’s chess capital for the month of November,” said Potot.
“With the help of the Iloilo City government, PSC, and PAGCOR, we will honor GM Torre and his achievements in chess during his 75th birthday,” added Potot.
This is the first time that OCM and Iloilo City are hosting a tournament in honor of Torre, who made history by becoming Asia’s first grandmaster in the 21st Chess Olympiad in Nice, France, in 1974.
Torre was also the only player to beat then world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia by winning a strong, four-man category XV tournament held in Manila in 1976.
The Iloilo-born is also best remembered for leading the Philippine team to its best-ever seventh-place finish in the 1988 Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece.
At stake in the Rapid Open tournament scheduled for November 5-6 are cash prizes, with the champion bringing home the lion’s share of P50,000 and a trophy.
The runner-up will earn P25,000, the third placer will pocket P15,000, the fourth placer P10,000, and the fifth placer P8,000.
Cash prizes will also be given to the 6th through 20th placers.
The top individual performers in the Senior, Junior, Lady, and Kiddies categories will also get cash prizes, alongside the top three players from host Iloilo.
In the Team Tatluhan scheduled on Nov. 7–8 at the same venue, the champion will pocket the top prize of P100,000.
The runner-up will get P50,000, the third placer P30,000, the fourth placer P20,000, and the fifth placer P15,000. The sixth through 15th placers will also bring home cash prizes.