Mindanao chess legend NMCesar Caturla laid down to rest

By Lynde Salgados
Correspondent

MINDANAO’S 71-year-old National Master (NM) Cesar Caturla, a member of the Philippine men’s team that competed in the 1976 World Chess Olympiad in Haifa, Israel, died last Friday morning at his rented house in Sampaloc, Metro Manila. He was buried a few days later.

Best remembered by Mindanao woodpushers for organizing the biggest chess tournament in Mindanao in terms of cash prizes, the Surigao native Caturla was more than that: he was back in the chess spotlight in 2019 as a senior citizen, winning the first gold for the Philippines in the 20th Asean+ Age Group Chess Championships at the Golden Mandalay Hotel and Hotel Hazel in Mandalay City, Myanmar.

In that event, Caturla was unbeaten in eight games, good enough to secure the top honors in the Senior 65 years old and above of the standard nine-round Swiss system tournament.

Caturla was also among the original members of the Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates now contending in the season-ending 3rd Conference of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP).

“It’s definitely sad news for the chess community in Mindanao to learn of Caturla's passing in this most difficult time of the pandemic. Bed-ridden, he died of complications after being hospitalized some weeks ago due to arthritis and his kidney problem at about 11:40 am,” said Surigao team owner and Caturla’s townmate in Arena Grandmaster Rey Urbiztondo.

It was veteran chesser Clement Valledor of Cagayan de Oro who first broke the news of Caturla’s depressing condition in Manila away from his two children in Surigao and the other one now living abroad.

“He’s really in bad shape as can be seen by a photo of him sent by a fellow chess player in our group chat,” Valledor said.

Immediately, long-time chess buddy International Master Domingo Ramos of Manila had sponsored an online chess tourney on October 16 for the purpose of helping to sustain Caturla’s medication after his release from the hospital.

“Sarce (Cesar Caturla) was an icon in Mindanao chess. A decade ago, we can’t forget him for organizing the cash-rich tourney in Cantilan, Surigao del Norte,” recalled National Arbiter Lorenzo Cuizon, referring to the Prospero Pichay Sr. Memorial Cup that saw the late NM Ernesto Fernandez of Pagadian City running away with the champion's purse of P100,000 cash prize.

Also a former coach of the Philippine women’s team in the Olympiad, Urbiztondo said Caturla was really a warrior in the 64-square-board game that he begged to play for the Surigao team in the PCAP challenge last year despite that he's already 70 years old.

“Today’s generation of chess was really hard for him as games are played on the internet. Catching up with the latest technology is not an easy task. But he was always competitive he managed to play with us during our early team formation. With his departure, we also lost a pillar of chess in Mindanao,” Urbiztondo said.