.jpg) Severino in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Sander De Erit Severino | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1985-06-30)June 30, 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | February 7, 2026(2026-02-07) (aged 40) Silay, Negros Occidental, Philippines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Philippines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title | FIDE Master (2015) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peak rating | 2405 (January 2007) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sander de Erit Severino (June 30, 1985 – February 7, 2026) was a Filipino chess player who held the title ofFIDE Master. He participated in the2018 and2022 Asian Para Games. In 2020, he was crowned the first IPCA (International Physically Disabled Chess Association) Online World Chess Champion.[1]
Born on June 30, 1985, Sander de Erit Severino[2] was a native ofSilay,Negros Occidental. Severino was diagnosed withamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)[3] when he was eight years old.[4] Both of his legs were paralyzed due to this condition.[5] He was reliant on a wheelchair.[6]
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.[7] 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 theSocial Security System Horacio Templo has sponsored the participation of disabled athletes in the chess tournament including the trio who did well in the competition.[8] In late December 2000, Severino won the Asian Continental Under-16 Championship inBagac,Bataan,[9] with his participation sponsored again by the SSS[7] Thanks to this victory, he earned the title ofFIDE Master.[9]FIDE awarded him the title in 2015.[10]
Sander Severino participated in seven editions of theASEAN Para Games.[5][6] In the2017 edition held inKuala Lumpur he won a gold medal.[11]
At the2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, the chess team which Severino was a part of won most of the ten gold medals won by the wholePhilippine 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.[12]
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.[4]
Severino's last tournament was the2025 ASEAN Para Games held inThailand in January 2026, where he won five gold medals and a silver medal.[13] Severino will be posthumously awarded by the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its Awards Night on February 16 at Diamond Hotel in Manila.[14]
After his participation at the2025 ASEAN Para Games in Thailand, Severino was confined for a week in a hospital. He died from heart failure in Silay, on February 7, 2026, at the age of 40.[15]
