First Asian Grandmaster Eugene Torre is now a Hall of Famer after induction ceremony in Missouri, USA.
After some delay, Asia’s first grandmaster Eugene Torre was finally inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame on Wednesday at the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station in Missouri, USA.
The 70-year-old Filipino is the first Asian to receive such honor as he joins China’s greatest player in Xie Jun to be the only Asians inducted in the WCHOF.
Torre has now immortalized his place as one of the greatest to ever play the game, alongside fellow inductees, Hungary's Judit Polgar and Poland-born Argentine Miguel Najdorf, who will all be joining the already inducted 37 legendary chess players.
Some of the notable names who were included in the 37 hall of famers were Jose Raul Capablanca, Emmanuel Lasker, Paul Morphy, Wilhelm Steinitz, and Robert ‘Bobby’ Fischer.
“It’s a great honor to be included in the revered list of names who I hold in high esteem. This I share with my countrymen,” said Torre.
Accompanied by his wife Maria Lina, Torre received a plaque with his image and biography etched on it in a once in a lifetime ceremony also attended by the rising chess master Philippine-born American Wesley So.
After the induction, Torre’s notable games and highlights will also be featured in a digital interactive gallery which includes becoming the first Asian grandmaster in 1974 when he bagged the silver in the 21st Chess Olympiad in Nice, France when he was just 22 years old.
After gaining the title of grandmaster he then defeated the reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov in 1976 and became the first one to achieve this feat.
Other achievements by the legendary player were a silver medal finish in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and bronze medals in the 1980, 1986, and 2016 Chess Olympiad, and the first to reach the Candidates stage of the World Championship.
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