Men’s chessers bow to Viets, finish 37th

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines fell short against Vietnam, 1-3, and finished 37th at the close of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia Friday night.

International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia delivered the lone victory at the expense of Grandmaster Tran Tuan Minh on third board. GMs Julio Catalino Sadorra (board 1) and John Paul Gomez (2) and IM Haridas Pascua (3) lost to GMs Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and IM Nguyen Anh Koi, respectively.

That left the Filipinos with just 14 match points, which put them in a 14-country logjam at 25th spot and 37th overall after tiebreaks were applied.

It surpassed the disastrous 54th-place performance in Baku, Azerbaijan two years ago when the team ended up with only 12 points.

It also equaled the 14-point output by the Phl in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey since the 11-round Swiss System era was introduced.

The Pinay chessers succumbed to the Australians, 1-3, and slipped to 67th, a far cry from their 34th place in Baku.

China topped both the men’s and women’s divisions, unseating the Americans, who had the Cavite-born GM Wesley on second board.