WORLD Chess Olympiad bronze medalist grand master (GM) Eugene Torre is upbeat about playing Davao City's youth chess champions in a simultaneous exhibition match and is hoping to meet President Rodrigo Duterte again.
Torre, who won a bronze medal in the Olympiad held in Baku, Azerbaijan last month, was invited to play exhibition matches set Saturday, October 22, (against the city's youth chess champions) and Sunday with some executives.
"I'm very happy, the last time I was here matagalnarin. I'm here for the chess exhibition, a way of promoting the sport although chess is already popular in Davao. I look forward to playing with the youth here. Everybody is a winner (in this simul chess)," Torre said in a media interview at Chippen's Buffet Friday evening, adding that he might be challenged more physically than mentally being a senior citizen.
He expects going from one player to another as the main challenge for him since the simultaneous chess match against 10 players will take three to four hours to finish.
Torre also said that playing with young players is a good opportunity to inspire them to stay in the sport and keep playing.
He arrived around 6 p.m. Friday with wife Marilyn.
The first Asian grand master also said that his short visit is also a way of renewing acquaintances with those who love chess and catching up with old friends.
He also said, "Syempre ngayon eh trend na pag di kanakapasyal sa Davao, mapag-iiwanan ka. Hopefully, I can meet the President. The last time I met him here was way back 11 years ago, mayor pa lang siya noon. Binigyan niya ako ng key to the city bayun, parang barko (smiles)."
He lauded the current Duterte administration for giving recognition to the country's sportsmen and sportswomen, particularly giving surprise bonus to Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz.
Torre said the new administration may still be young but it never failed to appreciate the value of the national athletes, also seeing that it is very supportive of sports.
Torre, who is set to receive a cash incentive from the national government through the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for his Olympiad feat in a flag ceremony on Monday at the PSC, however, will no longer be competing in the World Senior Chess Championship in Czech Republic due to visa problems. He will instead compete in Turkey in an invitational tournament slated to open on November 1.
