Wheelchair-bound chesser gets support to fulfill dream

MANILA, Philippines - At a very young age, Sander Severino was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy that confined him to a wheelchair for life. It didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a chess Grandmaster.

In one of his best performances, Severino, a FIDE Master, finished third among 128 participants in a one-day blitz tournament which served as side event to the 17th Bangkok Chess Open in Thailand.

The 31-year-old Silay City, Negros Occidental native finished with nine points, two points behind eventual champion GM Karen Grigoryan of Armenia and half a point off second placer German GM Falko Bindrich.

Interestingly, Severino was the lone chesser who beat Grigoryan while drawing with Bindrich in this event divided into eight 16-player groups, using a time control of three minutes with two seconds increment, with the two from each advancing to the round-robin finale.

Grigoryan and Bindrich have current ratings of 2559 and 2582, respectively, compared to Severino’s 2364.

Severino, who got his FM title at the age of 15, and  International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia were the highest scoring Filipinos with five points apiece after seven rounds of the nine-round main event.

He beat Malaysian Lye Lik Zang in the sixth round while Garcia halved the point with German GM Niclas Huschenbeth.

Severino said he and fellow differently abled player, Davao-based Henry Lopez are using this tournament to prepare for the ninth ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur this September and the World Championship in Germany the next month.

“We’re using this tournament as part of our preparation and hopefully we’ll do better here to make our country proud,” said Severino, who won 16 golds, three silvers and a bronze in the last ASEAN Para Games.

Severino said it helped differently abled athletes like himself that he is getting financial support from the government thanks to RA 10699 which allots a monthly stipend to national athletes with disability.

“We started receiving P15,000 a month since January last year and thanks to the current PSC leadership under chairman Butch Ramirez, it was increased to P16,000 plus a meal allowance of P5,000 a month,” said Severino.

“For us, it’s a big help because like our fellow national team athletes, we also do our best to make our country proud,” he added.

Although he’s getting older, Severino said he is still not giving up on becoming a GM.

“It is always my dream to become a GM and I will not stop until I achieve that dream,” he said.