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Post all other great Filipino players here. Past and Present. For example, Ed Bernal. hehe

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Анатолий Евгеньевич Карпов Anatolij Evgen'evič Karpov; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once again after Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. He held the title until 1999, when he resigned his title in protest against FIDE's new world championship rules. For his decades-long standing among the world's elite, Karpov is considered one of the greatest players of all time. His tournament successes include over 160 first-place finishes.[1][2] He had a peak Elo rating of 2780, and his 90 total months at world number one is second all-time behind only Garry Kasparovsince the inception of the FIDE ranking list in 1971. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Public Chamber of Russia. He has recently involved himself in several humanitarian causes, such as advocating the use of iodised salt.[3]

Mikhail Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls; Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, Michail Nechem'evič Tal, [mʲixʌˈiɫ nʲɪˈxɛmʲɪvʲit͡ɕ ˈtal]; sometimes transliterated Mihails Tals or Mihail Tal; November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992)[1] was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion. He was often called "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and "The magician from Riga" for his daring combinatorial style. Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer; his professional career was that of a chess journalist. The Mikhail Tal Memorial is held in Moscow each year since 2006 to honour his memory. He holds the records for both the first and second longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess history.[2] Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking Grandmaster of all time.[3]

Eugenio Torre was born in Iloilo City, the Philippines and is the strongest Filipino chess player of his generation. He reached a peak world ranking of 20 in January 1983 and was in the world's top 100 players for most of the period from 1975 until 1992*. At the age of nearly 60, he remains ranked among the top players in the Philippines. Awarded the IM title in 1972, Torre quickly ascended the ranks, and has the distinction of being the first Asian to earn the title of International Grandmaster. He accomplished the feat at the age of 22 when he won a bronze medal on board 1 at the 21st World Chess Olympiad held in Nice, France in 1974. Torre has been a veteran of the World Chess Olympiad for four decades, playing in every Olympiad since 1970 (except for 2008), playing top board for his team in every Olympiad between 1972 and 2004 inclusive, and leading the Philippine team to 7th place at the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad. Altogether, he has won three individual Olympiad bronze medals. Torre also participated in most of the early Asian Team Championships, invariably playing top board and invariably winning one or two medals. He lead the team to three consecutive gold medals during the games held in 1977, 1979 and 1981, to silver in 1983, and gold again in 1986. He also won 4 consecutive individual gold medals in those years and finished with a bronze medal for both the team and himself in his last stint at the Asian Team Championships played in Kuala Lumpur in 1993. He beat Anatoli Karpov in Manila in 1976, one of Karpov's few losses during his championship reign. Torre qualified for the Candidates round in 1984 but lost to Zoltan Ribli. He was a friend of Robert James Fischer and acted as a member of his team during Fischer's 1992 match against Boris Spassky, later conducting radio interviews with Fischer on <Bombo Radyo> of the Philippines.

Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij; Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский; born January 30, 1937) is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972. He is known as one of the greatest and oldest living chess players. Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright (1961, 1973), and twice more lost in playoffs (1956, 1963), after tying for first during the event proper. He was a World Chess Championship candidate on seven occasions (1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1985). Spassky defeated Tigran Petrosian in 1969 to become World Champion, then lost the title in the Fischer–Spassky match in 1972, one of the most famous chess matches in history.

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author. After ending his competitive career, he proposed a new variant of chess and a modified chess timing system: His idea of adding a time increment after each move is now standard, and his variant Chess960 is gaining in popularity. Widely considered a "chess legend",[1][2] at age 13 Fischer won a "brilliancy" that became known as The Game of the Century. Starting at age 14, he played in eight United States Championships, winning each by at least a point. At 15½, he became both the youngest grandmaster and the youngest candidate for the World Championship up until that time. He won the 1963–64 U.S. Championship 11–0, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. In the early 1970s he became the most dominant player in modern history—winning the 1970 Interzonal by a record 3½-point margin and winning 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented 6–0 sweeps in the Candidates Matches. According to research by Jeff Sonas, in 1971 Fischer had separated himself from the rest of the world by a larger margin of playing skill than any player since the 1870s.[3] He became the first official World Chess Federation (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) (FIDE) number one rated chess player in July 1971, and his 54 total months at number one is the third longest of all time. In 1972, he captured the World Championship from Boris Spassky of the USSR in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland, that was widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation. The match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess match before or since. In 1975, Fischer declined to defend his title when he could not come to agreement with FIDE over the conditions for the match. He became more reclusive and did not play competitive chess again until 1992, when he won an unofficial rematch against Spassky. The competition was held in Yugoslavia, which was then under aUnited Nations embargo.[4][5][6] This led to a conflict with the U.S. government, which was also seeking income tax from Fischer on his match winnings, and Fischer never returned to his native country. In his later years, Fischer lived in Hungary, Germany, the Philippines, Japan, and Iceland. During this time he made increasingly anti-American and antisemitic statements, despite his Jewish ancestry. He publicly expressed criticism of the U.S., stating his belief that, "Nobody has single-handedly done more for the U.S. than me. But now I’m not useful anymore, you see. The Cold War is over and now they want to wipe me out, get everything I have, put me into prison."[7] After his U.S. passport was revoked over the Yugoslavia sanctions issue, he was detained by Japanese authorities for nine months in 2004 and 2005 under threat of deportation. In February 2005, Iceland granted him right of residence as a "stateless" alien and issued him a passport.[8] When Japan refused to release him on that basis, Iceland's parliament voted in March 2005 to give him full citizenship.[9] The Japanese authorities then released him to Iceland, where he lived until his death in 2008.[10]

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (Armenian: Տիգրան Պետրոսյան, Тигран Вартанович Петросян) (17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else.[1][2] He was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the world championship in 1963 (against Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966 (against Spassky), and lost it in 1969 (to Spassky). Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won theSoviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975). He was recognised as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess by the authors of a 2004 book.[3]

Vasily Smyslov (24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010)[1][2] was a Russian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958.[3]p376 Smyslov was a candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1983, and 1985). He was one of the five players selected to compete for the 1948 World Chess Championship tournament to determine who should succeed the late Alexander Alekhine as champion. His selection was questioned by some, but this criticism was silenced when he finished second behind Mikhail Botvinnik. His victories in the double-round Candidates tournaments of 1953 and 1956 were the greatest tournament wins of the 1950s. He played three 24-game world championship matches against the formidable Botvinnik, drawing the first in 1954, winning the second in 1957 but losing the return match in 1958. All three matches were held in Moscow. Smyslov was twice equal first in the Soviet Championship (1949, 1955), and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals (team and individual). He remained active and successful in competitive chess well into the 1960s and 1970s and he qualified for the finals of the World Championship Candidates' matches as late as 1983.[3] Vasiliy won the first World Senior Chess Championship in 1991. He retired from competitive play in 2001. Smyslov was also a concert-level singer. His baritone singing, and fellow grandmaster Taimanov's piano recitals, were evening events at many major chess tournaments.

Mikhail Botvinnik [1] (17 August 1911 – 5 May 1995) was a Soviet Russian grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. He was an electrical engineer, one of the few chess masters who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess. Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union. This put him under some political pressure, but also gave him considerable influence within Soviet chess. He played a major role in the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II. After his retirement as a player he coached a few select pupils. They included three future World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

Max Euwe [1] (20 May 1901 – 26 November 1981) was the 5th World Chess Champion, from 1935 to 1937. He was a Dutch chess grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was not a full-time professional player; he got his PhD in pure mathematics in 1926, and worked as a school and college teacher. He was made Professor of Mathematics in 1964.[2]p132 Against all expectations, Max won the world chess championship in a match with Alexander Alekhine in 1935. Alekhine won the title back in a rematch two years later. After World War II, Euwe was still the best player in western Europe, and played in two world championship candidates tournaments. Max played for the world championship in 1948, in the match-tournament which decided the successor to Alekhine. He finished below Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres and Reshevsky. Again he tried, at the Candidates' tournament in 1953, but this was also unsuccessful, though he was still a strong player. Max used his teaching skills in chess as well as mathematics. He wrote 20 chess books, most aimed at helping the club player improve. He invented a subscription correspondence course called The Chess Archives, but known everywhere as Euwe's Archives. This gave teaching on chess openings, which were then an area of great weakness for club players. The Archives were published in Dutch, German and English, and helped to give professional help to amateur players. Euwe served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978. He tried to expand chess into more countries, a goal which has succeeded.[3]

By the age of twenty-two, he was already one of the strongest grandmasters. During the 1920s, he was one of the hypermoderns, and won many tournaments. In 1927, he became World Champion by beating Capablanca. The match of 34 games was the longest world championship match held until 1985. In the early 1930s Alekhine dominated tournament play, and won top-class tournaments by large margins. He also played first board for France in four Chess Olympiads, winning prizes in each. His tournament record became less good from the mid-1930s onwards; alcoholism is often blamed for this. Although Alekhine offered Capablanca a rematch on the same terms that Capablanca had set for him, negotiations dragged on for years. It became clear that Alekhine would never let the match take place. Meanwhile, he defended his title with ease againstBogolyubov in 1929 and 1934. Alekhine was defeated by Euwe in 1935, but regained his crown in the 1937 rematch. His tournament record was now uneven, and rising stars (such as Keres and Botvinnik) threatened his title. Negotiations for a title match were halted by the start of World War II in 1939. Alekhine was known for his attacking style: he was good at turning an initiative into a win. He was the first world champion to work hard on opening theory. Alekhine was the first to be a full-time dedicated professional of the modern type. He said he spent eight hours a day studying the game, and produced many innovations in chess openings. Alekhine was declared an "Enemy of the Soviet Union" after making anti-Bolshevik statements in 1927. However, after his death, the Soviet chess leaders called him "one of the founders of the Soviet School of Chess". He is still highly regarded as a chess writer. His finest works were his collections of his own games, which influenced many players.