PH Men's Team topples Zambia to climb to 20th place at the 43rd Chess Olympiad as the Women's squad beats Sokor to go up to 33rd going into the last two rounds
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 04 Oct 2018
INTERNATIONAL Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia (Elo 2439) took the cudgels for the Philippines by pulling off the lone victory to make up for the early draws of Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra (2553), Grandmaster John Paul Gomez (2464) and International Master Haridas Pascua (2435) as 54th seed Philippines men's team posted a 2.5-1.5 win over 95th seed Zambia to gain a share of 20th place in the ninth round of the 43rd Chess Olympiad being held at the Sports Place in Batumi, Georgia late Wednesday.
Garcia, the head coach of Ateneo de Manila University chess team, playing white, defeated Kela Kaulule Siame (2160) after 60 moves of English Opening on board three to cap the Filipinos? victory after Sadorra halved the point with International Master Andrew Kayonde (2393) after 31 moves of a Catalan Opening on board one as did so Gomez who split the point with Fide Master Douglas Munenga (2273) after 30 moves of Ruy Lopez Opening on board two and Pascua drew with Prince Daniel Mulenga (2337) after 45 moves of King's Indian defense on board four.
The win shoved PH men's to joint 20th with 12 points in the company of host Georgia 1, Norway, Argentina, Sweden, Slovenia, Georgia 2, Moldova, Egypt, Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Lithuania and Ecuador.
The Philippines next faces 78th-seed Ecuador, winner over 115th-seed Sri-Lanka, 3.5-0.5.
11th-seed Poland surged ahead with 16 points after a 2.5-1.5 win over top seed and defending champion United States.
Grandmaster Kacper Piorun (2612) upset Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (2763) after 60 moves of Scandinavian defense on board three.
Grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739), Grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek, (2727) and Grandmaster Jacek Tomczak (2614) claimed draws on board one, two and four, respectively against World Championships challenger Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana (2827), Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So (2776) and Grandmaster Samuel Shankland (2722).
The loss dropped the United States to 2nd place with 15 points in a tie with China, Armenia and England.
China bested Azerbaijan, 2.5-1.5, Armenia trounced India, 2.5-1.5, while England subdued Norway, 3-1.
The Filipina chessers toppled South Korea, 3-1, with Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna (2287), Woman Fide Master Shania Mae Mendoza (2113) and Woman International Master Bernadette Galas (2080) carved out stunning wins.
Frayna smashed Woman Fide Master Chengjia Wang (2050) after 51 moves of Modern defense on board one, Mendoza outclassed Woman Fide Master Roza Eynula (2030) after 42 moves of French defense on board two and Galas dealt Yubin Kim (1671) after 47 moves of Vienna Opening on board four.
Woman Candidate Master Sunwoo Park (1793) saved her team in a possible shut-out loss after beating Woman International Master Marie Antoinette San Diego (2102) after 46 moves of Sicilian defense on board three.
The win put the PH ladies in a tie from 33rd to 45th places with 11 points with twelve others, including tenth and penultimate round opponent 46th-seed Moldova, who brought down 72nd seed Finland, 2.5-1.5.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
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