Eugene Torre: Bobby Fischer's Professional Bodyguard and Friend


I just read a very interesting article - "How I Played and Met Bobby Fischer"- Chess Daily News about the legendary chess genius Robert James Fischer on his tremendous contribution to chess. It further gives insight on how one single man brought down an entire Soviet Chess Machine, created professional chess and how he brought fire, excitement, and scandal to the game. But for us chess fans in the Philippines, we are proud to know that our very own Eugene Torre was Fischer's confidant and friend.


I quote the following from Polgar's article where she categorically described Torre as Fischer's "professional bodyguard" and a "good friend":

"I was in Peru at the time and envied them for the honor of meeting the American chess genius. Apparently, Bobby was disappointed that I did not go as well, and he wanted to meet me, too.

Therefore, another visit was arranged. After my return from South America, I drove my family in my VW Passat for another trip across the border. Bobby was protected by a professional bodyguard, as well as his good friend, Filipino grandmaster Eugenio Torre. Bobby was staying in a modest hotel room. His main activities were listening to the radio, reading, analyzing and playing chess. He was constantly following chess news and games.


I was surprised to see how tall and big he was. He was slightly overweight, though I would not call him fat, and seemed to have enormous hands and feet. He was very friendly and open with me right away, and had a lot of questions, including about my recent trip to Peru. He was in the process of analyzing the games between the two World Champions right after him, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov."

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