Joseph Sanchez, the country’s newest Grandmaster in chess and the first Cebuano to achieve the rare feat ever, is The Freeman’s thumbs-up choice as “Athlete of the Month” for February.
The 37-year-old Sanchez became RP’s 10th GM after coming out with a brilliant performance in the Festival des Jeux International Chess Tournament in Cannes, France where he earned an overall performance rating of 2634 after facing a number of tough grandmasters from Europe.
Sanchez once played with varsity team of the University of Cebu (UC), then Cebu Central Colleges (CCC), where he took up Bachelor of Science in Marine Technology.
Romeo Romagos, the former coach of Sanchez, said he wasn’t surprised at all with the achievement of Sanchez because even before he already showed a lot of promise to make it big in the popular European boardgame.
“Buotan tong bataa. Kugihan ug sobra ka pasensiyoso. So, wa ko nahibong nga na sikat na siya karon,” said Romagos.
“Kataw-an lang na siya sa una kay saging ra daw ang kinaon compared sa iyang mga kontra nga hamburger gyud ang kinaon. Unya naay mga duwa nga gamay nalang iyang pyesa mabilin kumpara sa iyang kontra, pailob lang siya hangtud siya gyud makadaug,” added Romagos.
Sanchez iso now part of the elite Pinoy grandmasters which include Eugene Torre, the late Rosendo Balinas, Rogelio Antonio, Mark Paragua, Bong Villamayor, Nelson Mariano, Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo, Wesley So, and Jayson Gonzales.