RP chessers face Ecuador in 6th round

With a welcome rest Friday, the Philippines is expected to come out reenergized and hopefully start a coup in the sixth round of the World Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy Saturday.

The men’s team, struggling in the middle of the standings at joint 50th with 11.5 points, battles Ecuador, hard pressed to score a victory to regain confidence and momentum for a needed rally going into the second half of the 13-round Swiss system event.

The women’s squad, meanwhile, is up against Belarus, looking forward to stoke the fire of its 2.5-0.5 win over Italy-B Thursday to improve its 8.5-point haul at joint 34th.

After a shutout win over lowly Mauritius on opening day, the Filipinos struggled with three draws and a sorry loss. After five rounds, GM Joey Antonio stands as their best scorer with 2.5 points, followed by Darwin Laylo, Oliver Dimakiling and Wesley So with 2.0 points apiece then top board players GMs Mark Paragua and Eugene Torre with 1.5 each.

Russia and Armenia pace the field with 15.5 points with the Netherlands breathing down their necks with 15. Uzbekistan, at fourth overall with 14.5 points, is the leader among Asian nations, followed by Iran with 14, China and India with 13.5 apiece, Indonesia with 13, and Vietnam and Turkmenistan with 12 each.