Fil-Aussie chess legend passes away in Armenia

MANILA, Philippines – Fil-Aussie Arianne Caoili, one of the best female chessers the Philippines has produced, lost via time forfeiture.

Caoili, the ultra-talented woodpusher who played twice for the country in the World Chess Olympiad in 1998 and 2000, passed away on her hospital bed Tuesday or more than two weeks after a car crash in Yerevan, Armenia.

She was 33.

“I have no words to express the grievance over my wife Arianne’s death,” said Caoili’s husband, consistent World Top 10-ranked Grandmaster Levon Aronian on his Twitter account @LevAronian.

Born in Manila, Caoili learned the sport the sport here and made the national team in the Olympiad as a 12-year-old in Elista, Russia in 1998 and later on also played in Istanbul, Turkey two years later.

She decided to leave the country in 2004 and played five more Olympiads for Australia and topped the London Chess Classic and the Oceania Women’s Zonal Championship in 2009 to qualify to the Women’s World Championship in 2010.

Caoili, however, forever remained in the hearts of Filipino chess fans, who continued to follow her exploits despite her departure.