Filipino Grandmaster (GM) Eugene Torre bagged the over-all championship of the 3rd President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque City.

It was the first major title in years for the Iloilo-born Torre, who is also the first Asian GM.

Torre tied with 2007 champion GM Li Chao of China and Singapore-based GM Zhang Zhong for a total of 7 points after forcing a draw during his final match with GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran.

He, however, became the over-all champion after securing a higher tiebreak point.

Also counted among the top ten are GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia (Top 4), GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan (Top 5), Ghaemmaghami of Iran (Top 6), Filipino GM Mark Paragua (Top 7), GM Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan (Top 8), Li Wang of China (Top 9) and Filipino International Master John Paul Gomez (Top 10).

Before his successful campaign at the PGMA Cup, Torre was last seen in action during  the  highly-successful "Quezon City Chess Roadshow: The Rematch" where he battled fellow GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. to a 3-3 draw  before going on a short vacation with his family in the United States.

Torre also skipped the recent national qualifying tournament for the World Chess Olympiad scheduled in Dresden, Germany. -- Dennis Gasgonia, abs-cbnNEWS.com