Palawan Queen's Gambit's Marife dela Torre: Adjusting from way up in Canada

MANILA, Philippines – It’s easy to get wide-eyed and lost on a team with accomplished chess players, but for Marife dela Torre, she’s thrilled to be part of this unique journey.

More so now as she competes online after relocating to Canada barely five months ago.

“I love chess,” succinctly put dela Torre during an earlier interview when introducing her team in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP), the Palawan Queen’s Gambit. 

“Being a part of this team is not only an honor, but like a dream,” she added.

Although the Palawan Queen’s Gambit has struggled to get a team win after three playdates in the inaugural All-Filipino Conference of PCAP, dela Torre knows it is all part of the learning curve for team as well as herself.

“I have not won any of my games so far, but if I would select my best performance, I think it is my rapid game against Lapu Lapu Naki Warriors’ Kraig Quinain,” pointed out Marife. “That could have been my first win but I missed it because I failed to play objectively. We ended up having a three-fold repetition even though I was up by two pawns.”

Dela Torre admitted that the 13-hour time difference has affected her game more so since she only recently relocated to North America where she is still getting adjusted.

“Since I usually do not wake up that early (5 a.m.  for her matches), I had to adjust my sleeping time,” she recounted. “But sometimes, I cannot sleep eve if I wanted to. So when I wake up the next day, I feel drowsy this has affected my concentration on the game. But I am adjusting and I will cope.”

“Because of PCAP, I have returned to studying chess so I can play it more competitively,” said Marife who prior to her graduation from Far Eastern University (where she earned her degree in Applied Mathematics and Information Technology last August in addition to winning the bronze medal in UAAP Season 82). 

“PCAP is giving hope to Filipino chess players, most especially for women, as their career does not end after they graduate college.”