RP upstages Monaco in Chess Olympiad

DRESDEN, Germany – The Philippines downed Monaco, 2.5-1.5, to post its second straight win after an opening day loss in the 38th World Chess Olympiad Saturday.

GM Wesley So took a break but IM John Paul Gomez and GM Darwin Laylo got the job done for Team RP as they beat Roman Krulick and Jean-Philippe Gentilleau, respectively.

GM Jayson Gonzales settled for a draw against FM Patrick van Hoolandt while GM Bong Villamayor bowed to GM Igor Efimov on the top board.

The Filipinos thus moved up to a share of 14th with four points based on the 2-1-0 matchpoint style scoring system being used by FIDE for the first time since 1927.

Under the matchpoint system, a win is worth two points, a draw is one point and a loss zero. RP faces Greece in the fourth round Sunday.

Catherine Perena, Cheradee Chardine Camacho and Christy Lamiel Bernales hurdled their respective opponents as the RP women’s squad thumped Yemen, 3.5-0.5.

Perena beat Mada Eishereif in 24 moves of the Two Knights, Camacho outclassed Omaima Awad in 26 moves of the Sicilian and Bernales crushed Amali Galal in 30 moves of the Scandinavian.

Shercila Cua drew with Nadmiea Abdalsalam in 42 moves of the Reti.

The Filipinas next face Belarus.

Top seed Russia defeated Cuba, Ukraine edged Geogia, Armenia outplayed Faroe Island, Spain bested Tajikistan, India downed El Salvador, Romania humbled Japan, Norway shocked China and host Germany demolished Malaysia to share the lead in the men’s division with perfect score of six points.