WHOEVER said that Grandmaster Eugene Torre is a goner must have been mistaken as the living legend announces a fresh bid to beat the odds of aging.
The chess piece namesake will be coaching and playing for a team predominantly composed of wood-pushing whiz millennials from Rizal Province.
As playing coach of the Rizal Batch Towers, Torre embarked on a big comeback in the historic first playoffs in the inaugural All-Filipino tournament of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines.
Torre’s PCAP squad, the Rizal Batch Towers, is composed of Torre himself as the playing coach, Marlon Constantino and Jose Villaceran of Binangonan, National Master (NM) Elias Lao of Manila, International Master (IM) Rolando Nolte of Quezon City, FIDE Master (FM) Mari Joseph Turqueza and Hermand Vallente of Antipolo City, NM Robert Arellano, Enrica Villa of San Mateo, NM Noel Dela Cruz of Makati City, Kris Angelique Melicano of Cavite and Robert Arellano of Cainta.
Interestingly, the Rizal Batch Towers is deemed as underdogs being seeded fifth in the Northern Division. It has not played since the first weeks of January when the season began. The Grandmaster, who has opted to serve in a playing-coach capacity for his team, has expressed optimism that the team’s long layoff would not affect their skills – and chances of winning the top plum.
As for the low-profile Rizal Batch Towers’ team owner and manager Ed Mardrid, he would only say: “We will put up a fight on the chess board.”
As this developed, the Binangonan municipal administrator Russel Callanta Ynares said that the local government is solidly behind the team, even as he expressed optimism that their two home-grown talents Constantino and Villaceran would be able to pull off the tricks on the game boards.
“We have always believed that Marlon [Constantino] and Jose [Villaceran] would go places by just playing the mind game. What we see in them are future international chess sensations,” said Ynares in an inspirational remark seen to boost the confidence of local athletes.
Aside from breeding chess talents, Binangonan has also produced champion amateur and professional boxers.