PHL woodpushers end skid, draw with Bangladeshis

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine men's team ended its two-match slide by battling an all-Grandmaster Bangladesh side to a 2-2 draw even as the women's squad saw its two-match win streak come to a screeching helt after succumbing to Mongolia, 1-3, in the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway Sunday.

GM Julio Catalino Sadorra dismantled GM Ziaur Rahman's Larsen Opening in 22 moves to cushion the impact of GM Eugene Torre's painful 47-move defeat to GM Enamukl Hossain of a Ruy Lopez game to settle for the draw.

GM John Paul Gomez split the point with GM Al-Rakib Abdulla in 47 moves of yet another Ruy Lopez while playing team captain GM Jayson Gonzales debuted by halving the point with GM Niaz Murshed in a game where he went an exchange down.

The Filipinos remained stuck in the middle pack as they are tied from 74th to 102nd place with eight points can advance a bit if it could beat Pakistan in the ninth round.

It was most painful that the tired and weary 62-year-old Torre, who has made a record 22nd Olympiad appearance, absorbed his first loss of the tournament after two wins and five draws for 4.5 points.

The Filipinas ran into the tough Mongolians and fell with Jan Jodilyn Fronda coming out with the lone victory for the team on third board by beating Uuganbayar Lkhamsuren in 89 moves of a Dutch Defense.

Chardine Cheradee Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna and Catherine Perena all lost their games at the hands of International Master Batkhuyag Munguntuul, WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg and Bayanmunkh Ankhchimeg on boards one, two and four, respectively.

The loss sent the Phl from a place inside the top 25 to a share of 39th to 57th spots with nine points and will clash with Costa Rica.

Fronda's win hiked her total to 6.5 points out of eight games, winning six, drawing and losing once to remain in contention for a chance to snare a medal on third board.