Torre eyes record 21st Olympiad stint
By Joey Villar (philstar.com) | Updated May 28, 2014 – 4:04pm
MANILA, Philippines – Ageless Filipino chess Grandmaster Eugene Torre is hoping to break the record with most Olympiad appearances when he seeks one of the two remaining slots in the Tromso-bound team by participating in the Battle of the Grandmasters next month.
Torre, 62, is already tied with Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch with most Olympiad stints with 20 each, 19 of which were consecutively, to break the old record of 18 straight held by Heikki Westerinen.
“It’s a nice feat but I’m more concerned on helping the team in any way I can,” Torre, Asia’s first ever GM, told The STAR on Wednesday.
Should he fail to qualify, Torre said he will go with the team as coach.
“But if I couldn’t make a team, I may come as coach of both the men’s and women’s team,” he said.
The team, however, will need not just Torre’s coaching and expertise but his vast Olympiad experience should inspire a team composed mainly of young players like United States-based Wesley So, Julio Catalino Sadorra and Oliver Barbosa, who were already seeded outright by the National Chess Federation of the Phl more than a week ago.
So, Sadorra and Barbosa are the country’s highest-ranked woodpushers with FIDE ratings of 2731, 2611 and 2592, respectively, but they’re still relatively young.
So, who will shoot up to No. 15 in the world in the monthly FIDE rating list this June after topping the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba two weeks ago, is just 20 years old while Sadorra and Barbosa are both 27.
During his time, Torre has manned the top board a record 17 times, played 236 games winning 86, drawing 111 and losing 39 highlighted by him snaring the bronze medal for Board One thrice in 1974 Nice, 1980 Malta and 1986 Dubai Olympiads.
The vintage Torre also skippered the Phl team to its best ever performance in the Olympiad after they finished seventh in the 1988 edition in Thessaloniki, Greece, breaking the previous high of 11th in 1974 in Nice.
Source: http://www.philstar.com
* There is no confirmation so far that So or Barbosa will play in the upcoming Chess Olympiad.
Everyone should boycott this team.
Wesley should have been the only one given an outright slot on the team. Sadorra and Barbosa’s level is more or less same as the other Philippine GMs such as Gomez, Paulo, Torre, Paragua and Antonio. They should have been made to go thru qualifiers to keep it fair. Barbosa and Sadorra’s elo levels are higher than the rest of these guys coz they get more tournament exposure outside the Philippines. In a head to head match I don’t think Barbosa can beat Antonio.
Im surprised they seeded Wesley So outright to the Philipine Team bound to the Tomso Olympiad. From the news in the Philippines, the NCFP was steadfast on its resolve to have Wesley So undergone the qualification stage for the Olympiad. In other words, the NCFP was not supportive of So especially when he was not able to play in the Asean games last year. I guess when they heard of rumors that Wesley was thinking of ditching NCFP and possibly change federation to US or Canada made the NCFP extend sn olive branch so to speak and soften their stance so Wesley would stay. Suggestion, threw out its President Prospero Pichay as he is more of corrupt politician than a chess supporter. Ditto GM Gonzales he is always jealous of Wesley So and always try to pin him down.
The report is inaccurate! GM Eugene Torre had already achieved his 21st Olympiad stint in the 40th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey (27 August to 10 September 2012). He officially made it playing in R5 of the 2012 Olympiad.
Pls read hereat:
http://chessaccount.wordpress.com/chess-records/gm-eugene-torre-all-set-for-his-21st-olympiad/
If ever he makes it at Tromso 2014, the 41st World Chess Olympiad, it will already be his 22nd participation and breaking his own record!
Torre should retire and give way to the younger and more talented players. He is ‘laos’ na. Sayang ang pera ng Pilipinas.
I agree he is washed up but sadly a washed up Torre is still good enough to make it to the Olympiad team.