RP chessers face lowly Mauritius

The Philippines drew an easy first round assignment in lowly-ranked Mauritius, hoping to score a sweep and gain an early boost in its campaign in the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy which got underway Sunday (Monday in Manila).

GM Mark Paragua, who rose to No. 99 in the world last April, debuts as the Philippine team’s board one player and he is expected to frolic against Roy Phillips, an untitled rival from the 107-ranked Mauritius squad.

GM Eugene Torre, the many-time spearhead of the RP team, takes on Patrick Li Ying on board two, GM Joey Antonio, the best Filipino performer in the 2004 Mallorca Olympiad, tangles with Deevarajan Chinnasung on the next board.

Darwin Laylo, one of the two alternates in the RP squad two years ago, now moves up to No. 4, raring to show his stuff against fellow unranked player Pradeep Seegolam.

Ranked 35th in a field of 146, the Philippines is eyeing a top 10 finish in this biennial event after winding up in joint 12th in Mallorca, Spain in 2004 on a team built around Torre, Antonio, Paragua, Laylo and IM Jayson Gonzales.

Defending champion Ukraine, which foiled Russia in Spain, opens its title-retention bid against IBCA while the top-seeded Russians battle the Kazakhstan side on the top board.

India, the second ranked team, collides with Morocco while Armenia and France take on Venezuela and Bolivia, respectively.

But while the RP men’s team got a favorable first round draw, its women’s squad will have a lot of praying to do as it is paired with eighth-ranked Germany right in the opener.

Sheerie Joy Lomibao, Catherine Perena and Sherily Cua set out as the clear underdogs against IMs Elisabeth Paehtz and Ketino Gersinska and WIM Jessica Nill, respectively.

The RP women’s team is listed as No. 60 in a field of 108, led by defending champion China.