Asian Chess Federation gives GM Eugene Torre 'Lifetime Achievement Award'
Hello chess blog friends, the Asian Chess Federation has honored Grandmaster Eugene Torre with a 'Lifetime Achievement' Award. GM Torre is the first Grandmaster from Asia. The Philippine Star has a nice profile of the Grandmaster.
“I am humbled, happy and very grateful to receive this award,” the 62-year-old Torre, who is Asia’s first grandmaster, told The STAR in a text message yesterday.
The Asian Chess Federation, headed by Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, held the first annual Asian Chess Excellence Awards last June 25 at the Danat Hotel in the United Arab Emirates.
Torre’s contributions to Philippine chess are unmatched.
At 22, he became Asia’s first grandmaster following a silver medal finish in the 1974 Chess Olympiad in Nice, France. Two years later, in a tournament in Manila, he defeated then world champion Anatoly Karpov.
Torre went on to lead Philippine chess to greater heights, and helped promote the sport in the Asian region under the guidance of then FIDE president Florencio Campomanes of the Philippines.
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He took part in 20 Chess Olympiads, 19 of which were consecutive, sharing the coveted record with Hungary’s Lajos Portisch. When the 41st Olympiad is held in Norway in August, Torre will man Board 4 for the Philippines.
“This recognition has further acknowledged the contributions we Filipinos, foremost of whom was Florencio Campomanes, have done for the promotion of chess in Asia,” said Torre.
The top officials of the ACF, including deputy president Casto Abundo of the Philippines, said the award is “in recognition of his (Torre) success as Asia’s first grandmaster and his many victories and world records.”
Some other awards included
- Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao received the “Chess Patron of the Year” award “in recognition of his inspiration to sports fans around the world and his support for the Asian Continental Championships inspiring millions of youths to learn chess.”
- Ruler of Sharjah, H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi was awarded the “Man of the Year” for his “generous donation” that helped build the biggest chess club in the world.
- Viswanathan Anand of India was named “Player of the Year”
- Reigning Women's World Champion Hou Yifan of China was “Woman Player of the Year.”
- GM Yu Yangyi received the “Best Junior Player of the Year” for ruling the World Junior Championship and Asian Indoor Games.
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Labels: asia chess, eugenio torre, Hou Yifan, manny pacquiao, Viswanathan Anand, yu yangyi
Meet Canada’s first Chess Boxer: Sean Mooney
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
A man sits dazed in a chair at the centre of a boxing ring at London’s Royal Albert Hall, staring over a chessboard that is slanting away from him.
In his hand, wrapped for the fight he is also losing, is a pawn. Sweat gathers around his noise-cancelling headphones, which are blasting classical music so he can’t hear the announcer, a chess Grandmaster, prognosticating his impending defeat.
The pawn is buying time, precious seconds to recover before a blonde ring girl in a black one-piece signals the next round — boxing, this time.
Across from him is Sean Mooney, a man who’s been to the peak of Everest and back, a Cornell University product who failed to catch on in Major League Soccer but completed a triathlon with two weeks’ training on a bet.
He’s also Canada’s first chessboxer, about to win in his debut.
Bachelorhood in Britain has its perks, but on a Friday night in London, Mooney is far away from those temptations.
He’s training for a sport he’s punch-drunk in love with: Chessboxing. It’s exactly what it sounds like, alternating rounds of chess and boxing. Winners are decided by knockout, checkmate or if they run out of their allotted chess time. Six four-minute segments of chess and five three-minute boxing rounds make up a fight.
To train, Mooney, now 28, spent his Friday and Saturday nights in the 12 weeks leading up to the October bout taking chess lessons in the unlikeliest of places — a dingy gym with the sole purpose of training men to induce pain, especially to the head.
Chessboxing requires brawn and brains. One fighter is in Mensa.
“It’s kind of like people trying to break stereotypes,” Mooney says in a late-night phone interview from his London home. “It’s nerds trying to get back at the bullies who beat them up, and jocks trying to discard the dumb jock myth.”
On the sidelines with his omnipresent camera is Toronto filmmaker David Bitton, hard at work on Chessboxing: The King’s Discipline.
Since 2009, he’s been to the major hotspots of the sport: London, Berlin and Los Angeles. He has chronicled the sport’s growing pains, with distinct factions debating every element including whether chessboxing should be one word or two.
“Whenever I tell anyone about chessboxing, that’s never the end of the conversation,” Mooney says. “Everyone’s instantly like, ‘What is that? Tell me more, I need to know.’ . . . (It) locks people in instantly.”
That might be an overstatement. First impressions often tend to be along the lines of: “You’re not serious, are you?”
“You can see they’re really desperately trying not to smile because they don’t want to offend me,” said Andy Costello, a 220-pound mixed martial arts fighter who was “outed” as a chessboxer in front of Quinton (Rampage) Jackson.
Rampage didn’t poke fun. In fact, he also likes chess, Costello says. The same goes for boxing giants Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao.
Costello’s son is another story: “He calls me a chessboxing clown.”
“As far as I’m concerned, (chessboxing) has two identities. . . . It’s a really legitimate attempt to test brains and brawn. At the same time, it’s so much fun to watch.”
The London club that hosted the October fight between Mooney and pawn-wielding Bryan Woon is trying to make a go of it. Other clubs, notably in Berlin, are more strict about enforcing rules that limit the field. Costello knows few fighters who meet the World Chess Boxing Organization’s listed requirements: at least 20 amateur bouts and a chess rating of 1,800.
This is, after all, a sport inspired by a 1992 graphic novel (Enki Bilal’s Froid Equateur), with the first fight held in 2003 in Amsterdam. More than a few beers were served the night the WCBO was formed.
David Depto, the only Mensa-certified fighter to throw his mug in the ring, says athletes are still learning the rhythm of chessboxing. The key, he says, is treating each boxing round like it’s the last. Wearing opponents down doesn’t work when there’s nearly six minutes of recovery time between rounds. He also tries to be the one to make the last chess move to buy time while his opponent waits, adrenaline pumping.
Bitton, meanwhile, has had a front-row seat.
“It’s the genesis of something new, which is exciting,” says the filmmaker, who will soon edit his documentary after raising $35,000 on Kickstarter.
Clubs are starting to pop up in China, and India recently held a tournament with 180 competitors. Costello says he’ll fight again, and Mooney has signed on for another bout in London, likely in the spring.
The future of the sport is unknown. For now, chessboxing is buying time, pawn in hand. (Article by Jeff Green)
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Labels: chess boxing, Chess video, jeff green, lennox lewis, manny pacquiao, quinton jackson, sean mooney, vitali klitschko
Philippines Chess: Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao Registers for Asia Continental Chess Tournament
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Interesting chess news: World's second highest paid athlete to play chess!
MANILA, Philippines – In an interesting bit of chess news, we hear that Philippines boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has enlisted for the Asian Continental Chess Championship scheduled from May 18 to 27 at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.
Emmanuel 'Manny' Dapidran Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world boxing champion in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He is also the second highest paid athlete in the world, according to his Wikipedia profile!
Grandmaster Eugene Torre, who is co-organizing the event announced the event as the nine-round Swiss System tournament to be known as the Manny Pacquiao Chess Cup. A total cash prize of $100,000 will be up for grabs in the event that serves as the last qualifying tournament for the 2013 World Cup in August in Norway.The top five in the men’s division and the winner in the women’s division will earn slots to the World Cup. In case previous qualifiers win or finish among the top five, then the next best player gets the slot. The Eugene Torre Chess Foundation, Inc. is organizing the event in association with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Butch Pichay, the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE.“This will be a historic event because one of the world’s sporting icons, Manny Pacquiao, is supporting us. We will make sure it becomes a successful event,” said Torre.Registration to the tournament is ongoing, according to Asia’s first grandmaster. He expects the top players from China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the former Soviet republics to compete.The NCFP has already sent invitations to the different national federations, and so far Torre said there’s been a tremendous response. He added that Filipino players, the International Masters and the National Masters, are also very interested in joining the event. “We are all very excited. I hope a Filipino qualifies for the World Cup. We will be happy with one but it will be a big bonus if we get two slots,” said Torre.From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Asian Chess: Continental Manny Pacquiao Event in Manila from May 17
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The National Chess Federation of the Philippines, on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE is organising the Manny Pacquiao Cup Asian Continental Chess Championships (Open, Women’s and Blitz) with the Eugene Torre Chess Foundation, Inc. from May 17-27th 2013 at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City, Metro Manila.
Each Federation from FIDE Zones 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 can enter one official player in the Open and one official player in the Women’s Division. The official players from each National Federation will be provided with lodging from afternoon of May 17 till noon of May 27 with breakfast and lunch/dinner meal allowance. Participants will be accommodated in double (or triple) shared bedrooms.
In addition, each Federation may send extra players rated 2300 and above for the Open, and 2000 and above for Women based on the May 2013 FIDE Rating List. Extra players will be responsible for the payment of their board and lodging through the Organizing Committee. Exceptions for the rating floor may be made by the Continental President on request of national federations.
Midas Hotel in Pasay City, Metro Manila
The tournament shall be conducted as a Swiss System competition of 9 rounds and will be played according to FIDE regulations. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The games shall be played with DGT clocks. Pairings will be made by Swiss Manager Program. Players from the same federation with more than 50% score shall not be paired together in the last round.
The blitz competition will be organized in 9 round Swiss System for players under the same conditions as the main tournament. Time control will be 3 minutes and 2 second increment per move.
Prize fund is $100,000 for Open, Women and Blitz (before tax, if any), prize distribution to be announced.
The top five (5) from the 2013 Asian (Open) Championship shall qualify for the 2013 World Cup. The 2013 Asian Women’s champion shall qualify for the Women’s World Championship.
If previous qualifiers are among the winners, the next in line in the Continental shall take the Continental qualification place to the World Cup / Women’s Championship. For more details: Tel no +63-927-7209260 Email: NCFPsecretariat2012@gmail.com.
Labels: asian continental chess, eugene torre chess foundation, manny pacquiao
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