Pinoy chessers hope to extend win run vs Austrians

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines hopes to sustain its fine start as it resumes its campaign in the 41st Chess Olympiad against Austria even as its women’s squad tries to check its skid in Tromso, Norway Friday.

Despite the absence of its top two players, Team Phl still posted three wins and a draw against a loss in the first five rounds, pooling seven of the possible 10 match points for joint 25th with 18 others.

GM Eugene Torre, on a record 22nd Olympiad appearance, is leading the Filipinos’ charge with 3.5 points on a pair of wins and three draws while Olympiad rookies GM Julio Catalino Sadorra and IM Paulo Bersamina have posted three points apiece.

GM John Paul Gomez has two points while National Chess Federation of the Phl and playing captain Jayson Gonzales, a last minute replacement for GM Banjo Barcenilla, has yet to see action.

GMs Wesley So and Oliver Barbosa have begged off to lead the team with the former opting to switch federation and the latter failing to secure his visa in time for the event.

But Torre, Sadorra, Bersamina and Gomez have so far proved their worth with the team hoping to buck the odds at resumption of the 11-round, 14-day championship.

The Phl beat Afghanistan, Finland and Chile, drew with Bosnia and Herzegovina and bowed to second seed Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Filipinas, led by Jan Jodilyn Fronda, Cheradine Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna and Christy Bernalesa, hope to arrest their back-to-back losses that dropped them to joint 61st after reaching as high as the top 15 in the early going of the tournament.