Dropping the ball
Press
Published on: May 22, 2021
In the early 1970s, chess was an extension of the cold war. There was a hierarchy: Russians dominated the sport and America had Bobby Fischer. After them came the rest of the world. Even at that second echelon, Europe was first. Asia was nowhere near the chess superpower status it enjoys now. Into this exclusive club rose the 21-year-old Eugene with the apt surname, from a country without a history or culture of chess.
Eugene Torre, at his best, was seen as equal to the Russian grandmasters. Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, Tigran Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi, Mikhail Tal, Garry Kasparov were his regular fare. “Yevgeny” Torre, by any other name. Eugene Torre’s trailblazing in chess arguably empowered the Asian region on its path to the top. Today, China and India are 3rd and 4th in the world per FIDE country federations ranking.
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