EUGENE Torre was Asia?s first grandmaster.

But Wesley So, the country?s youngest GM, is the highest ELO-ranked Filipino player of all time.

So completed yet another remarkable feat after garnering 2627 ELO points, based on the ratings released by the International Chess Federation by the end of 2008. He added another 17 ELO points during the last quarter of the year just passed.

?It?s an honor for me. I?ll still do my best to see to it that I can continue on improving and becoming better,? said So, regarded as one of the top woodpushers in the world.

Only three years ago, the chess prodigy had an ELO of 2165, then upped his points to 2216. In 2007, he pushed it even more to 2451.

Torre is now second in the country?s overall list with an ELO of 2560. It was his highest rating in a career that has spanned four decades. He became Asia?s first grandmaster during the Nice Olympiad in France in 1974 at the age of 22.

Newly minted GM John Paul Gomez vaulted into third place with an ELO of 2539, up by 20 points from the last list released by the Fide in the last quarter of 2008.

Gomez, the 22-year-old pride of Bi?an, Laguna, became the country?s 10th grandmaster during the 38th World Chess Olympiad last November.

Mark Paragua, the first Filipino to reach the ELO 2600 barrier when he recorded the 2621 in April 2006, gained 11 points in the last three months to improve to 2537 for fourth place.

Completing the Top 10 were?former RP no. 1 Rogelio Antonio Jr. (2519), Darwin Laylo (2504), Rolando Nolte (2504), Roland Salvador (2496), Richard Bitoon (2473) and Bong Villamayor (2471). Rey Joble