In pain of highlighting the obvious, the Filipino chessers failed in their bid to win the titles in the recently concluded PGMA and Pichay Chess Cups. GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan ruled the PGMA Cup while GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia reigned in Pichay Cup. Still, some things need keen observation and emulation from the younger generation of Filipino chess players.
The best Filipino performer in these two events was GM Rogelio "Joey" Antonio, who came up at seventh and third place in PGMA and Pichay Cups, respectively. Combining his results in both events, Antonio flashed an stagerring eights wins, nine draws, and a single loss(!). At Pichay Cup Antonio won all of his games with the White pieces and drew with Black--his victims included GMs Tigran Kontajian of Armenia, Mikheil Mchedlishvili and Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia.
These recent performances bode well for Antonio's chances at the World Chess Cup later this year. He seems well-oiled and all geared up for what could be the greatest performance yet in his career. Antonio's approach to the royal game is characterized by deligence, hardwork, and pragmatism. He could be a fierce or an amicable foe over the board, depending on the circumstances. But it is the flashes of competitiveness that had brought him great results recently, notably in the Asian Intercontinental Chess Championship and the Pichay Chess Cup. Antonio has proven, time and again, that he is a world-class player, very hard to beat and deadly when he intends to be.
Another star, though arguably not as lustrous as in the past, is Asia's first Grandmaster and chess legend, GM Eugenio "Eugene" Torre. El Eugenio, or Genius as Antonio fondly calls him, had such a dismal performance at the PGMA Cup that he had to pull out of the competition after consecutive draws in the first five rounds and back-to-back losses in the next two. Many felt for Torre because of that performance, and some others again questioned his ability to still compete at the former level he used to habitate.
But then came the Pichay Cup.
Again, Torre started with two draws against lower-rated opponents. Then he posted three consecutive wins over Ali Branzuela, IM (GM) Ronald Dableo and Indian wunderkind GM Abhijeet Gupta, his biggest catch at the tourney. A draw with the GM John Paul Gomez in round six put a stop to his run, then he lost to GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in the next round. Torre bounced back in round eight by humbling GM-norm campaigner IM Richard Bitoon but he lost his last round game to GM Zhong Zhang of China, dropping to a tie for 9th to 21st spot. Not many could pull off a veritable comeback after such a disastrous tourney as PGMA Cup like Torre did. Here's a Filipino who has the most solid international chess record to date, literally battling and destroying arguments that he is past his prime and can no longer put up a decent fight. Here's a player who pulled off similar and even greater feats in the past, causing, truth be told, a palpable expectation, probably fear for some, among the participants and chess enthusiasts of another Torre run that no one could stop. He fell short in the end, but the message was there: You can never count Torre out in a competition.
GMs Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio remain as two strong pillars of Philippine chess. We can always learn a lesson or two from them.
