Wesley So hails Torre’s Hall of Fame induction, struggles in US Chess crown defense

MANILA, Philippines – There they were, together. The brightest stars of Philippine chess sharing the international stage on an occasion unlikely to be replicated.

Eugene Torre, the first king, and Wesley So, the former king who vacated the throne to seek his destiny and fortune in the United States in 2012.

Although Torre is 70 years old and So is just 28, they were able to represent the Philippines together, including the 2006 Turin Chess Olympiad.

They met again on Tuesday, October 4 (Wednesday, October 5, Philippine time) at the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station in Missouri, when Torre was officially inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame after making the elite list in 2021.

So was there at the event preceding the inaugural of the 2022 US Chess Championship where the pride of Bacoor, Cavite, is the defending back-to-back titlist.

They gladly posed for a historic photo as Torre, the first Asian male inductee, is happy with how So has become the reigning World Fischer Random Chess champion and has been in the world’s top 10 in classical chess for the past decade.

So, on the other hand, was appreciative as Torre, the first Asian Grandmaster and the first to reach the Candidates’ stage of the World Championship, supported his move to switch federation and study at Webster University 10 years back.

Torre, who saw action in a record 23 Chess Olympiads, was presented with a plaque, while his biography and notable games will be included in a digital active gallery of the WCHOF.

In the US Open, however, it seems So would be hard-pressed to retain the crown he first won in 2017.

After drawing his first match against Awonder Liang, So got stunned by 15-year-old sensation Christopher Yoo in the second round and found himself occupying the cellar with Liang at 0.5 points.

So will try to bounce back in the third round on Friday when he handles black against Jeffery Xiong.

Sam Sevian is the solo leader with 1.5 points while the rest of the elite 14-man field that includes Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, have 1.0 point each. – Rappler.com