Chessers draw with Canadians, grab piece of 35th spot

MANILA, Philippines – Grandmaster Eugene Torre came through with a victory and GM John Paul Gomez eked out a draw out of a losing position as the Phl escaped with a 2-2 draw with Canada and finished in a share of 35th place at the end of the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway Thursday.

Like a win improving with age, the 62-year-old Torre wielded his pet Torre Attack like a magic wand and trampled International Master Leonid Gerzhoy in 48 moves on third board while Gomez snatched an 82-move draw from the jaws of defeat of their Ruy Lopez game on second board to salvage a standoff.

GM Julio Catalino Sadorra split the point with GM Anton Kovalyov in 38 moves of a Nimizo-Indian Defense on top board while GM Jayson Gonzales suffered his first defeat – a 42-move setback to GM Bator Sambuev of a Queen's Pawn Game – in Olympiad play.

After 11 rounds and all tiebreak scores calculated, the Filipinos wound up at 46th spot, one of their worst efforts in the biennial meet.

The Phl women's team was worse as it finished at 64th with 11 points after it fell to lower ranked Belgium, 3-1.

Chardine Cheradee Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna and Jan Jodilyn Fronda lost to Hanne Goossens, Iuliaa Morozova and Wiebke Barbier from first to third boards, respectively.

Christy Lamiel Bernales averted a shutout by outclassing Sarah Dierckens with a merciless 22-move win of a French Defense.

Overall, China made history by becoming the first Asian team to win the men's division by running away with 19 points, a clear two points ahead of Hungary, India, Russia and next Olympiad host Azerbaijan.

Russia topped the women's side.

Despite the debacle, the Filipinos will have nothing to be ashamed off especially after coming to Tromso without their top two players in GMs Wesley So, who is changing allegiance and coached the American men's team, and Oliver Barbosa, who failed to go due to visa delays.

The Phl, however, will need to make drastic changes if it wants to make a big splash in the next edition in Baku, Azerbaijan two years from now.