PH women's chessers bow to Georgia as Mendoza and Galas fall; men's team beats Albania
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 02 Oct 2018
WOMAN Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna (2287) held International Master Salome Melia (2391) to a draw, bu the 43rd seed Philippines women's team fell short against 14th seed Georgia 2, 1-3, late Monday in the seventh round of the 43rd Chess Olympiad being held at the Sports Place in Batumi, Georgia.
Frayna, despite handling the white pieces, halved the point with Melia in 55 moves of English Opening on board one, and so did Woman International Master Marie Antoinette San Diego (2102), a graduating Psychology student of De La Salle University against International Master Sofio Gvetadze (2325) in 31 moves of Modern Benoni defense on board three.
However, Woman Fide Master Shania Mae Mendoza (Elo 2113) succumbed to Woman Grandmaster Inga Charkhalashvili (2317) in 50 moves of London System Opening on board two while Woman International Master Marie Bernadette Galas (2080) yielded to Woman Grandmaster Miranda Mikadze (2255) in 38 moves of Sicilian defense on board four.
It shall be recalled that Mendoza and Galas provided the twin wins for the Philippines women's team against the 25th seed England in the fifth round and 15th seed Spain in the sixth round.
The Philippines women's team drew with England, 2-2, then upset Spain, 3-1.
Overall, the Filipinas remain at nine points, four points behind tournament leader Armenia under the matchpoint style scoring system being used in the 151 nation team tournament, 11 Round Swiss-system format.
The country's female squad, whose team captain is Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales faces 30th seed Argentina in the eight round, who suffered a humiliating loss to 8th seed Kazakhstan, 0.5-3.5.
PH women's team whose best finish in the biennial event was 22nd place during the 1988 World Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece, while the men's team got the outstanding performance at 7th place.
In the men's play, the 54th seed Philippines defeated 60th seed Albania, 2.5-1.5.
Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra (2553) beat International Master Dritan Mehmeti (2391) in 61 moves of Double Fianchetto Opening on board one while International Master Haridas Pascua (2435) subdued International Master Ilir Seitaj (2360) in 31 moves of Sicilian defense on board four.
International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia (2439) split the point with Fide Master Franc Ashiku (2373) in 60 moves of Dutch Leningrad variation on board three while Grandmaster John Paul Gomez (2464) yielded to Llambi Pasko (2386) in 57 moves of Gruenfeld defense on board two.
The Filipinos whose team captain is Asia's First Grandmaster Eugene Torre now have eight points on four wins and three losses.
They will meet 67th seed Uruguay in the next round, who brought downed 87th seed Andorra.
Meanwhile, Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So (2776) and Grandmaster Samuel Shankland (2722) won their respective matches to spearheaded the top seed United States into 3-1 victory over 18th seed Croatia.
World Championships challenger Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana (2827) and Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (2763) claiming draws on board one and three, respectively.
Thus, the defending champion United States leads the way in the mens?s division with 13 points, the same output of 4th seed Azerbaijan and 11th seed Poland who drew, 2-2, their game. (Marlon Bernardino).
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