GM Eugene Torre placed second at 3rd Calgary International Chess Classic

So GM Eugene Torre is not altogether semi retire from playing serious chess tournaments. Torre missed this years edition of the Battle of Grandmasters as he is currently in Canada and participated in a tournament there. We're not sure though if it is the main reason why he begged off from Battle of GMs III but it's good to know that he's still have what it takes to compete in tournaments though not as tough as the 3rd Calgary International Chess Classic

by Marlon Bernardino

Final Standings: (9 round Swiss-System, 18 player's field)
7 points---GM Victor Mikhalevski (Israel)
6 points---GM Eugene Torre (Philippines), IM Renier Castellanos (Spain), IM Edward Proper (Canada)
5.5 points---GM Nick de Firmian (USA), FM Eric Hansen (Canada), IM Leon Piasetski (Canada)
5 points---GM John Fedorowicz (USA)
4.5 points---FM Dale Haessel (Canada), Robert Gardner (Canada)
4 points---IM Rana Panjwani (Canada),Richard Wang (Canada)
3.5 points---Richard Wang (Canada)
3 points---IM Lawrence Day (Canada)
2.5 points---Kevin Me (Canada)
2 points---Knut Neven (Canada), Alex Yam (Canada)
1.5 points---IM Marc Esserman (Canada)
　
FILIPINO Grandmaster Eugene Torre flashed his old deadly form when he beat local International Master (IM) Raja Panjwani in the ninth and final round to settled into a tie for 2nd to 4th placers at the conclusion of the 3rd Calgary International Chess Classic last May 20 to 24 at the Calgary Chess Club in Alberta, Canada.

The Philippine Chess Icon Torre, Asia's First GM, playing under the banner of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/ chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. finished with 6 points on account of four wins, four draws and lost in nine outings, the same output of IM Renier Castellanos of Spain and IM Edward Proper of Canada.

Top seed Israeli GM Victor Mikhalevski (2614) ran away with the title with 7.0 points plus champions' purse of $1,500 after a quick draw with the disadvantageous black pieces in the last round allowed his opponent, local Fide Master Eric Hansen, to make his final IM norm on his 18th birthday.

The nine round Swiss-System applied a time control of 40 moves in 90 minutes, then game in 30 minutes with a 30 second increment for each move from move 1.

Torre opened his bid in a bright note after beating FM Dale Haessel of Canada then notch four straight draws against FM Hansen, GM John Fedorowicz and GM Nick de Firmian of the USA and Proper then nipped Castellanos in the sixth round.

However, in the crucial seventh round, Torre lost to GM Mikhalevski that dimmed his bid for the coveted chess title.

He scored back-to-back victories against Richard Wang and IM Panjwani of Canada in the last two round but not good enough to captured the title and settle for 2nd to 4th placers with Castellanos and Proper. Marlon Bernardino