Sander De Erit Severino (June 30, 1985) is 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 ...

player holding the title of

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

. He participated at the

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and

2022 Asian Para Games The 2022 Asian Para Games (), also known as the 4th Asian Para Games and commonly known as the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, were a multi-sport event that paralleled the 2022 Asian Games which was held for Asian athletes with disa ...

Career

Born on June 30, 1985, Sander De Erit Severino is a native of

Silay Silay, officially the City of Silay (; ), is a component city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 130,478 people. Silay is often referred to as the "Paris of Negros" due to ...

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Occidental (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Negros, Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Bacolod, of which it is geographically s ...

. Severino was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS) when he was eight years old after a bicycle accident. Reliant on a wheelchair, both of his legs are paralyzed due to this condition. The Silay native started playing chess competitively at age seven and has become a regional champion at age 9 and the National Kiddies Champion at age 11. Severino along with Henry Roger Lopez and Jasper Rom participated at the 2000 Millennium Grand Prix chess tournament sponsored by the Philippine Chess Society. Executive Vice President of the

Social Security System Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance pr ...

Horacio Templo has sponsored the participation of disabled athletes in the chess tournament including the trio who did well in the competition. In late December 2000, Severino won the Asian Continental Under-16 Championship in

Bagac Bagac, officially the Municipality of Bagac (), is a municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 31,365 people, making it the least populated municipality in the province. Geography ...

Bataan Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...

, with his participation sponsored again by the SSS Thanks to this victory, he earned the title of

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

awarded him the title in 2015. Sander Severino has participated in seven editions of the

ASEAN Para Games The ASEAN Para Games is a biennial Paralympic sports, multi-sport event held after every Southeast Asian Games involving disabled athletes from the current 11 Southeast Asia countries. Participating athletes have a variety of disabilities rangi ...

. In the 2017 edition held 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 ...

he won a gold medal. At the

2018 Asian Para Games The 2018 Asian Para Games (, ''Asian Para Games 2018''), officially known as the 3rd Asian Para Games and also known as Indonesia 2018, was a pan-Asian multi-sport event that held from 6 to 13 October 2018 in Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta ...

in Jakarta, the chess team which Severino is a part of won most of the ten gold medals won by the whole Philippine contingent. Severino himself won the individual standard P1 and individual rapid P1 events and the team standard P1 and team rapid B1 events along with Lopez and Rom. In 2020, Severino clinched the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA) World Online Chess Rapid Championship title becoming the first player representing the Philippines to do so. He was undefeated winning the finals against Igor Yarmonov of Ukraine garnering 8.5 points through 8 victories and a draw.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Severino, Sander 1985 births Living people Filipino chess players Chess FIDE Masters People with paraplegia Filipino people with disabilities People from Silay ASEAN ParaGames competitors Place of birth missing (living people) Medalists at the 2018 Asian Para Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Para Games