Sander Severino

Sander de Erit Severino (June 30, 1985 – February 7, 2026) was a Filipino chess player who held the title of FIDE Master. He participated in the 2018 and 2022 Asian Para Games. In 2020, he was crowned the first IPCA (International Physically Disabled Chess Association) Online World Chess Champion.

Early life Born on June 30, 1985, Sander de Erit Severino was a native of Silay, Negros Occidental. Severino was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when he was eight years old. Both of his legs were paralyzed due to this condition. He was reliant on a wheelchair.

Career 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 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, Bataan, with his participation sponsored again by the SSS

Sander Severino participated in seven editions of the ASEAN Para Games.

At the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, the chess team which Severino was 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. Severino will be posthumously awarded by the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its Awards Night on February 16 at Diamond Hotel in Manila.

Death After his participation at the 2025 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.