RP chances for Magic 10 ebbing away

BLED, Slovenia – Temperature is dipping in this scenic town by the lake and so are the Philippines’ chances of landing in the Top 10 in the 35th World Chess Olympiad here.

The thermometer read zero degrees centigrade when the Filipinos got out of bed Wednesday, still ruffled by missed chances against Colombia in the 10th round Tuesday.

Colombia turned out to be a tough nut to crack as the Filipinos settled for draws in all four boards.

Tied for 31st place with 22.5 points, the Filipinos need a big win over Italy Wednesday to rekindle hopes of barging into the Magic 10 circle.

"We’re approaching the crucial stage of the tournament. There is no turning back," declared RP team captain Sammy Estimo who fielded the regular board players against the 47-ranked Italians.

The Filipinos had hoped to use Colombia as a springboard to break into the Top 20, but frayed nerves got in the way.

Grandmaster Eugene Torre, fresh from a three-day rest, got a lucky break against GM Alonzo Zapata, but failed to capitalize on his material advantage in the endgame.

Torre, who played his pet Trompovsky Opening with white, actually lost two pawns against Zapata and was holding on to salvage a draw when the Colombian blinked under time pressure.

The 51-year-old Filipino won a piece, but ran out of time to correctly evaluate the position where both players still had queens.

"Correctly played, I should have won. But it was nearly impossible to find the right path in so short a time. Besides, I was lucky to get a draw," said Torre who settled for the ceasefire after 87 moves.

GM Joey Antonio nursed a positional edge against International Master Dario Alzate with the black pieces, but opted for a draw in 38 moves.

At board three, GM Bong Villamayor watched his advantage against IM Raul Fernando Henao fizzle out in a series of exchanges and both agreed to a 40 -move draw of a Queen’s Gambit Declined.

The country’s best chance came in the fourth board where IM Nelson Mariano had a crushing attack going against Mauricio Uribe, who lagged behind in time but drew their match after 43 moves of a Sicilian Defense.