Chess Year Ender

Year in Philippine chess

Death of ‘Campo’, Asian Games silver medal and So’s reign dominate headlines in 2010

By Ed Andaya

WHILE we’re thinking about it, here’s the 10 most memorable stories in chess in the year 2010.

The death of long-time chess patriarch and former FIDE president Florencio Campomanes last summer is clearly the biggest news in the entire chess world.

The news of Campomanes’ death dominated the headlines of major local and international newspapers.

The list, of course, won’t be complete without a mention of the Filipinos’ surprise silver-medal finish in the recent Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

And yes, there’s nobody, nobody but GM Wesley So in 2010.

Here’s a look at the top 10 stories that made 2010 another memorable year in chess.

1. Goodbye, Campo.

Campomanes, who served as FIDE president from 1982 to 1995, passed away “peacefully and with quiet gentleness around him” at age 83 in Baguio City last May 4.

The ‘Grand Old Man’ of chess, who cheated death several times, including a near-fatal car accident in faraway Turkey, succumbed due to a lingering illness.

In fact, Campomanes’ death even overshadowed the world chess championship match between defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India and challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

Former FIDE general secretary Casto Abundo said Campomanes will always be remembered for turning FIDE into a truly universal body by reaching out even to Asian, African and Latin American countries.

“His legacy is spreading chess all over the world, raising FIDE membership.”

When Abundo went to see him during his final hours in Baguio City and thanked him for all his help, Campo flashed his trademark smile and replied, “We had fun.”

2. A silver medal that glitters like gold in the Asian Games.

Let’s admit it, the Philippine team’s silver-medal finish in the Asian Games chess competitions in Guangzhou, China is a major, major surprise even for ardest followers of the game.

And why not?

With China, India, Vietnam and the former Russian republics sending their best players in Guangzhou, the Philippines is hard-pressed to perform better than their seedings.

But the Wesley So-led five-man Philippine team did the unthinkable and pulled off a pair of stunning upset wins over Asian heavyweight India to set the staqe for the much-awaited gold medal match against host China.

The team lost to the vaunted Chinese side but earned a lot of respect with a performance worthy of a gold medal.

The silver medal was also a welcome addition to an under-achieving delegation that could only manage a disappointing 4-6-9 gold-silver-bronze medal haul.

3. Nobody, nobody but Wesley So.

So, bless his heart, continued his meteoric rise to the top of the chess world with a more than respectable performance in the year just ended.

Although he did not win any major international tournament this year, the 17-year-old Filipino champion from Bacoor, Cavite played well enough against top-notch foreign players to earn the respect and admiration of the international chess community.

For the third straight year, he also ruled the ‘Battle of GMs’ chess championship, ahead of Antonio, Torre and other top local players.

At the stroke of midnight last Dec. 31, So also improved his ratings to a record high ELO 2674 — good for No. 64 in the world’s Top 100. He also climbed to No. 3 overall in the world’s top junior players, six notches higher than his previous ranking three months ago.

4.Another Olympiad, another record for Eugene Torre.

The Philippines finished only 50th out of 144 countries in the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russa, but local chess fans need not despair.

Torre made it a lot more memorable with his record 20th Olympiad appearance — exactly 40 long years after making his debut as the country’s board two player behind IM Renanto Naranja in the 1970 World Chess Olympiad in Siegen, Germany.

A close friend-confidant of the late former American world champion Bobby Fischer, Torre tied the distinguished record of GM Lajos Portisch of Hungary for most Olympiad appearances at 20.

The multi-titled campaigner from Iloilo, who turned 59 last Nov. 4, played his 237th game in the Olympiad – second only to Portisch (260 games) but way ahead of GM Svetozar Gligoric (223 games) and GM Miguel Najdorf (222 games).

Before the Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad, Torre had a record of 86 wins, 111 draws and 39 losses for 141.5 points, another record which ranks him fourth-best behind only Portisch (176.5 points), Najdorf (145 points) and Gligoric ( 142.5 points).

In 2006 Turin Olympiad, Torre also made a record when he appeared in his 19th straight Olympiad, erasing the mark previously held by Paul Westerinen of Finland.