OLYMPIAD EPILOGUE: THE OLD AND THE NEW SPARKLED FOR PHIL. CHESS
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 10 Sep 2012
It was in 1988 that the Philippines garnered 7th place in the 28th Chess Olympiad held in Thessaloniki, Greece. Eugene Torre, Rogelio Antonio, Rico Mascari?as and Rogelio Barcenilla starred for that team that gave us our highest ever finish in the biennial event.
What made that feat more fantastic was the fact that Antonio and Barcenilla at that point in time had not yet earned the grandmaster title.
Our men?s squad in the 40th Olympiad in Instanbul was knocking at the door of at least matching that historic finish.
When the 60 year-old Torre - who became Asia?s first grandmaster in the 1974 Nice Olympiad - beat his old nemesis GM Nigel Short of England, it made me feel nostalgic for the good old days when Torre, together with the late GM Rosendo Balinas, lorded over the rest of Asia.
It was an adjourned vengeance for Torre. Way back in 1985, Torre was nearing what could have been his second appearance in the Candidates tournament. But after faltering in the homestretch in the Biel Interzonal, he figured in a three way tie-breaking matches with Short and GM Gyula Sax of Hungary. Short added insult to Torre?s frustration by beating him twice.
Torre?s victory over Short and GM Oliver Barbosa?s win over GM Gawain Jones gave the Philippines a 3-1 victory over England.
But China brought the Pinoys back to earth with only GM Wesley So managing to earn a draw.
The 18 year old So is without a doubt Torre?s heir as the flagship of Philippine chess. He played all the eleven games at the top board with two wins and nine draws without a loss (6.5 pts total). One of the highlights of So?s Olympiad stint was the draw against former world champion GM Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. The Philippines? upset win over the Eastern European chess power was sealed by GM Barbosa?s win over the more experienced GM Kiril Georgiev.
This was also the second Olympiad that So managed to draw against Topalov. He also had a draw against the highly rated GM Levon Aronian (ELO 2816) of Armenia. So is also part of the Webster University chess team and the SPICE program managed by GM Zsuzsa Polgar.
The Philippine man?s team was ranked eleventh going into the final round game against Romania. But they faltered losing 1-3 with losses by Torre and Paragua and draws by So and Barbosa.
But the last round loss should not take away the luster of what this team has accomplished. Placing 21st out of 150 participating countries is already a huge improvement.
The 1988 team was 7th out of 107 countries. The event was won by the still intact USSR. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the competition actually got tougher because the former Soviet republics preserved their chess tradition and expertise
Torre also scored a historic feat with his 21st Olympiad appearance. No one should be surprised if he is still around for the next one. The 2012 men?s team will also be remembered for their draw against Hungary and wins against Kazakhstan and Iceland.
The 26 year old Barbosa top scored for the team with 7 points (5 wins, four draws, two losses). Torre played seven games with two wins, two losses, three draws (3.5 pts), GM Mark Paragua also had an excellent showing with six points in all eleven games (3W-2L-6D) and alternate IM Oliver Dimakiling played four games, winning three and had one loss.
The Philippines? women?s team composed of WIM Catherine Perena, WFM Rulp Ylem Jose,Janelle May Frayna, Jedara Docena and Jan Jodilyn Fronda also performed very well. Perena top scored with 7 points (6W-2D-2L) and Frayna had 6.5 pts (4W-5D-2L).
They placed 43rd by beating Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Mexico, South Africa,and Portugal.
Armenia topped the men?s section and Russia placed first in the women?s side.
I was one of the few that did not dwell on the fact that in the last Olympiad held in Russia, we only placed 50th, an all-time low for the men?s side.I looked at the positive side of the performances of the individual team members. GM So had draws with GM Alexei Shirov and Topalov. Unlike So, most Filipino players who don?t usually get invitations to play in Europe and the U.S. They can use the Olympiad as a chance to play against higher rated GM?s. Just like most chess enthusiasts, I look at the game as a metaphor of life. You learn more from a game you lost than from a game you won. With the right adjustments, you can always bounce back after a setback.
Chess remains popular among Filipinos. Pinoy overseas workers have chessboards with them and engage in friendly matches during weekends. Here in our country, we see people playing in local clubs, outside ?sari-sari? stores, at home and even on the city sidewalks.
The benefits of playing chess have been demonstrated by studies conducted on students who had improved test scores and school performance after regularly engaging in chess. The game also has a positive effect on people with disabilities. Studies have also shown that reading and playing board games was associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
(Photo - Eugene Torre (left) and Wesley So)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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