LIKE wine, Grandmaster Eugene Torre gets better with age.
Showing he’s still a force to reckon with at 65, Torre carried the country’s campaign in last year’s Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, just like he did during his heydays as the top chess player not only in the Philippines but also in Asia.
Making another record-breaking 23rd appearance in the biennial Olympiad, Torre emerged as the best player in the four-man Philippine team and in the entire tournament for that matter, after finishing undefeated behind a spectacular 10 points out of a possible 11 on nine victories and two fighting draws.
With his total score turning out as the biggest in the meet, Torre ended up clinching the bronze medal on Board 3 because the tournament awards the gold medalist to the player with the highest performance rating.
Nonetheless, the feat served as one of the few bright spots in the country’s campaign in the 42nd edition of the Olympics of chess. It was also Torre’s first medal in the event since clinching silver on Board 1 (9 wins and 10 draws) in the 1974 Olympiad in Nice, France, where he achieved his Grandmaster title, the first Asian to do so.
For turning back the hands of time behind his excellent performance in Azerbaijan, Torre will be recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the coming Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night presented by San Miguel and Milo.
The most accomplished Filipino chess player of all time is among the top awardees to be feted by the country’s oldest media organization in its annual gathering of sporting heroes and heroines co-presented by Cignal/Hyper TV on February 13 at the Le Pavilion in Pasay City.
Rio De Janeiro Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is the recipient of the Athlete of the Year award, an honor once bestowed to Torre in 1982 when he was the toast of Philippine sports along with bowler Bong Coo and former world boxing champion Frank Cedeno.
As a Lifetime Achievement awardee, Torre joins a list of distinguished personalities also conferred with the same honor in the past such as the 1973 men’s basketball team, the late basketball great Carlos Loyzaga, coaching icon Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan, Francisco Elizalde, Mauricio Martelino and Carlos Padilla, among others.
Last year, legendary baseball and softball player Filomeno “Boy” Codinera was cited with the same award, eight months before he passed away.
Torre has also long been elevated too in the Hall of Fame of the sports organization established in 1949.
Awards for Executive of the Year, National Sports Association of the Year, Mr. Basketball, Mr. Golf, Mr. Football, Ms. Volleyball and the special choice of the current PSA President Riera Mallari of The Standard will be handed out during the formal ceremony backed by Smart, Foton, Mighty Sports, Philippine Basketball Association, Accel, Gold Toe, SM Prime Holdings Inc., Globalport, Rain or Shine, International Container Terminal Services Inc. and MVP Sports Foundation.
Major awardees in different sports, citations, Tony Siddayao Awards and the Milo Male and Female Junior Athletes of the Year will also be given out in the event backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Federal Land.