Rico Mascariñas (born 2 March 1953) is a Philippine (Filipino) chess player with the title of International Master. He was one of the premiere chess players of the Philippines during the 1980s and the 1990s and for a long period of time he was the No. 2 ranked player of the Philippines behind Grandmaster Eugenio Torre. Per World Chess Federation (FIDE), his highest numerical Elo rating was 2437 which he reached in January 2001 up to July 2001. At present, he has a numerical Elo rating of 2416 with a World Rank of No. 1800 and a National Rank (among Filipino chess players) of No. 16. However, per chessgames.com, Mascariñas achieved a highest numerical Elo rating of 2470. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1978. He is now based in Singapore where he coaches the junior team. In 2004 Mascariñas was awarded the title of FIDE Instructor. Chess career At the 1st Burroughs Computers Grandmasters Tournament held from April 5–19, 1978 at New Zealand, Mascariñas tied for third place with a score of 7/12 posting 4 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses just behind tournament winner Miguel Quinteros (10/12) and countryman Eugene Torre (8/12) and tied with Ortvin Sarapu. This tournament served as the second leg of the Asian Grandmasters Circuit. Mascariñas also played at the 29th (2001) Annual World Open held in Philadelphia, USA, a 9-round Swiss System event featuring 228 players. Mascariñas ended up tied for 96th–118th places where he eventually finished in 101st place with a score of 4.5/9 by posting 4 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses. Mascariñas, who migrated to Singapore later in his career, played at the 21st Cairnhill Open which took place from December 7–13, 2003 in Cairnhill CC, Singapore. He tied for 5th-11th places with a score of 6.5/9 in this 73-player, 9-round Swiss System Tournament finishing in 7th place after tiebreaks where countryman GM Julio Sadorra also played and ended up also in this 5th-11th logjam eventually placing 10th. FIDE World Chess Championship Mascariñas played at the 1990 Manila Interzonal where 64 players participated in this Swiss-format tournament of 13 rounds played from 29 June to 14 July at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Aside from Mascariñas, the home country was represented also by GM Torre. Both Mascariñas and Torre did not advance to the Candidates Matches with the latter ending up in a tie for 29th – 39th