Ruben Rodríguez (7 December 1946 — 1995), was a
Filipino chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
International Master (IM) (1978), Asian Team Chess Championship winner (1979, 1981).
Biography
In the 1960s and 1970s Ruben Rodríguez was one of the strongest Filipino chess players. In 1973, in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
he shared 1st - 5th place in
U.S. Open Chess Championship with
Norman Weinstein,
Walter Browne
Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times.
Early years
Browne was born to ...
,
Duncan Suttles, and Greg DeFotis. For a long time Ruben Rodríguez was considered the Philippines' best
blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, several ships of the Prussian, Imperia ...
player.
Ruben Rodríguez two times participated in the World Chess Championship Interzonal Tournaments:
* In 1979, at
Interzonal Tournament in
Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
ranked 18th place;
* In 1981, at
Interzonal Tournament in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
ranked 13th place.
Ruben Rodríguez played for Philippines in the
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...
:
* In 1968, at second reserve board in the
18th Chess Olympiad
The 18th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote ...
in
Lugano
Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
(+5, =2, -3),
* In 1970, at third board in the
19th Chess Olympiad
The 19th Chess Olympiad (), comprising an open team tournament as well as the annual Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE congress, took place between September 5–27, 1970, in Siegen, West Germany.
The Soviet team with six Grandmaster ...
in
Siegen
Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...
(+7, =7, -1),
* In 1972, at third board in the
20th Chess Olympiad
The 20th Chess Olympiad (, ''20. Šahovska olimpijada''), organized by FIDE and comprising an open team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 18 and October 13, 1972, in S ...
in
Skopje
Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
(+8, =4, -5),
* In 1976, at third board in the
22nd Chess Olympiad
The 22nd Chess Olympiad (, ''Olimpiada ha-shachmat ha-22''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE, took place between October 26 and November 10, 1976, in Haifa, Israel. For the first time, the event comprised both an openAl ...
in
Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
(+1, =1, -4),
* In 1978, at second board in the
23rd Chess Olympiad
The 23rd Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed t ...
in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
(+2, =5, -3),
* In 1980, at third board in the
24th Chess Olympiad
The 24th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 20 and December 6, 1980, at the Mediterranean Confer ...
in
La Valletta
Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...
(+2, =2, -5),
* In 1986, at second board in the
27th Chess Olympiad
The 27th Chess Olympiad (, ''uwlimbiad al-shatranj al-27''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female pla ...
in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
(+3, =5, -4),
* In 1988, at third board in the
28th Chess Olympiad
The 28th Chess Olympiad (, ''I 28i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well ...
in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
(+2, =3, -4),
* In 1992, at first board for Philippines-3 team in the
30th Chess Olympiad
The 30th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to ...
in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
(+6, =3, -3).
Ruben Rodríguez played for Philippines in the World Student Team Chess Championship:
* In 1969, at first board in the 16th World Student Team Chess Championship in
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
(+5, =2, -6).
Ruben Rodríguez played for Philippines in the Men's Asian Team Chess Championships:
* In 1979, at third board in the 3rd Asian Team Chess Championship in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
(+5, =1, -1) and won team gold medal,
* In 1981, at reserve board in the 4th Asian Team Chess Championship in
Hangzhou
Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
(+2, =1, -0) and won team gold medal,
* In 1991, at fourth board in the 9th Asian Team Chess Championship in
Penang
Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
(+5, =0, -2) and won team silver medal,
* In 1993, at reserve board in the 10th Asian Team Chess Championship in
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
(+2, =2, -1) and won team bronze medal.
References
External links
*
Ruben Rodríguezchess games at 365chess.com
1946 births
1995 deaths
Filipino chess players
Chess International Masters
Chess Olympiad competitors
20th-century chess players
{{Philippines-chess-bio-stub