Julio Catalino Sadorra, John Paul Gomez deliver as Philippines shocks Slovakia

MANILA, Philippines — Julio Catalino Sadorra and John Paul Gomez stunned fellow Grandmasters Christopher Repka and Tomas Petrik, respectively, as No. 54 Philippines upended 48th-ranked Slovakia, 2.5-1.5, to stay in the mix after two rounds of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia Tuesday night.

International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia fought his way back from a pawn down and salvaged a 65-move draw with IM Viktor Gazik in their Dutch duel to seal the Filipinos’ victory that kept them in the early joint lead with a slew of others with two match points.

The US-based Sadorra outplayed Repka in the opening to emerge quality up which he used to draw up a mating net that resulted in a checkmate after 37 moves of a Slav encounter while Gomez fended off all of Petrik’s threats with solid defense and turned a difficult position into a rousing 63-move win in a Ruy Lopez game.

FIDE Master Joseph Mari Turqueza, who took over ailing IM Haridas Pascua’s spot in the second round, paid dearly for his over-eagerness as IM Martin Nayhebaver neutralized the Filipinos’ attacks and fashioned out a 41-move victory in their Sicilian encounter.

“It’s a good start for us and we hope for the best in our next games,” said Phl non-playing coach GM Eugene Torre, whose charges romped past San Marino, 4-0, in Monday’s opening round of the biennial event which drew 41 nations in the Open division.

The Filipinos, whose campaign is sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, were playing 18th seed Croatia, which overpowered Monaco, 3.5-0.5, at press time.

But while the Filipinos went two-for-two, their counterparts suffered a 1.5-2.5 beating from Slovania in women’s play.

WGM Janelle Mae Frayna provided the lone win on the top board by beating WIM Laura Unuk while WIM Catherine Secopito drew with WFM Laa Janzelj on second board.

WFM Shania Mae Mendoza and WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego lost to WGM Kana Krivec and WFM Teja Vidic, respectively.

The Filipinas, who shut out Mozambique in the first round, hope to rebound as they play the Venezuelans in the third round.

In other results, US downed Georgia 3, 2.5-1.5; Russia whipped Ireland, 3-1; France blanked Uruguay, 4-0; Israel routed Costa Rica, 3.5-0.5; Poland rapped Indonesia, 4-0; the Netherlands crushed Scotland, 4-0; Czech Republic blasted Tajikistan, 3-1; and Germany beat Myanmar, 3-5-0.5.