Sadorra leads chessers to draw with Bangladesh

MANILA, Philippines - GM Julio Catalino Sadorra trounced GM Ziaur Rahman to make up for GM Eugene Torre’s stinging defeat to GM Enamuki Hossain as the Philippines drew with an all-GM Bangladesh side and remained way down in joint 74th after eight rounds of the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway Sunday.

Sadorra pounced on Rahman’s poor handling of the Larsen Opening and won in just 22 moves only to watch teammate Torre absorb a 47-move loss to Hossain in their Ruy Lopez game.

It was Torre’s first loss after scoring 4.5 points from two wins and five draws.

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

The Filipinos, however, hope to gain ground as they take on an unfancied Pakistan side in the ninth round Monday.

Like their men’s counterparts, the Filipinas bowed to a tough Mongolia side, 1-3, with Jan Jodilyn Fronda averting a shutout with a win over Uuganbayar Lkhamsuren in 89 moves of a Dutch Defense.

Chardine Cheradee Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna and Catherine Perena all lost their matches to IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul, WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg and Bayanmunkh Ankhchimeg.