GM Torre defends title in 4th PGMA Cup

ASIA’S First GM Eugene Torre will defend his title when the fourth President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup international chess championship unreels thursday (September 24) at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Paranaque City. The Opening Ceremonies will commence at 1:00 pm to be followed by the 1st round.

Torre drew with fellow GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in the ninth and final round and then edged 2007 champion GMs Li Chao of China and Zhang Zhong of Singapore in the tiebreak to emerge as the overall champion in the last year’s edition.

“I will do my very best for flag and country,” said Torre, the guest speaker in the just concluded Pineda-Santos-Camer three division rapid chess championships at the Ramon Magsaysay Cubao High School campus in Quezon City.

The trio (Torre, Li and Zhang) tallied 7.0 points in nine games of play during the 3rd edition of PGMA cup.

Other Filipino player’s to be watch are GMs Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr., Mark Paragua, Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor, Jayson Gonzales, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and GM-elect Ronald Dableo, among others.

Country’s top player Super GM Wesley So (2644) will not seeing around this time because the 15-year-old Bacoor boy is currently competing in Susan Polgar Institute Chess for Excellence (SPICE) Cup Chess Championship at the Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas, USA.

After the 4th PGMA cup, the Filipino pawnpushers also scheduled to play in the 5th Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. Cup Chess Championship on October 1 - 8, 2009 at the Local Water Utilities Administration Bldg located at Katipunan Road in Diliman, Quezon City. By Marlon Bernardino