PHL woodpushers continue contrasting fates

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine women's team downed Egypt, 3-1, to continue its march to the front even as the men's side continued to its free fall with a heartbreaking 1.5-2.5 defeat at the hands of Austria in the seventh round of the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway Saturday night.

Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Catherine Perena delivered the wins over Woman Grandmaster Shrook Wafa, Ayah Moaataz and Sohayla Abdelmenaem on boards two to four, respectively, to lift the Phl to a 16-man logjam at 23rd place.

Chardine Cheradee Camacho was lone casualty for the Filipinas after she lost to WGM Khaled Mona in 58 moves of a Caro-Kann Defense on top board.

The Filipinas have set up an eighth round duel with the 28th-seeded Mongolians, who smashed Paraguay, 3-1, and a victory would catapult the latter straight into the top 20 going into the final four rounds of this 11-round, 14-day biennial meet.

The men's team, in contrast, continued its descent after failing to come out with a victory over Austria that was decided by a stinging defeat by rookie International Master Paulo Bersamina to IM Stefan Docx in 48 moves of a Torre Attack on fourth board.

GMs Julio Catalino Sadorra, John Paul Gomez and Eugene Torre all fought themselves out of losing positions by drawing their games with GMs Luc Winants and Bart Michiels and IM Tanguy Ringoir on first to third boards, respectively.

The Filipinos thus fell into 76th to 98th spots and will be in dire need of a victory against Bangladesh in round eight to reach their goal of finishing in the top 20.

That goal is easier said than done though as the Phl is playing without GMs Wesley So and Oliver Barbosa, who played the top two boards in  the last Olympiad staging two years ago in Turkey.

So is changing allegiance and is coaching the United States men's team while Barbosa couldn't make it due to visa delays.

That forced Sadorra to play the higher board when he could have produced more points on second or third boards and an untested 16-year-old Bersamina to learn Olympiad play in a hurry.

Thankfully, Torre, one of the oldest participants at 62 years old who also happened to hold the record of most Olympiad appearances at 22, has been the bastion of strength for the Phl side after coming out unbeaten with 4.5 points on two wins and five draws after seven outings.

Bersamina and Sadorra, who are playing their first ever Olympiad, too have been holding their fort with 3.5 points while Gomez is making do with 2.5 points playing on the tough  second board.