Torre first Asian man in chess Hall of Fame

Eugene Torre. File photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Grandmaster (GM) Eugene Torre was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), making him the first Filipino and the first man from Asia to be bestowed the honor.

Torre, the Philippines and Asia’s first GM, was inducted along Polish-Argentine GM Miguel Najdorf and Hungarian Judit Pulgar.

The Filipino legend joins China’s female great Xie Jun as the only Asians to be inducted into the Hall that includes icons such as Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Bobby Fischer, among others.

This adds to so many achievements in an illustrious career that includes one silver and three bronze medals in the World Chess Olympiad, where he holds the record for most number of appearances with 25, all but two as a player.

His Olympiad debut was 1973, but Torre rose to prominence in 1976 when he beat Karpov, then the reigning World champion.