THE Philippines men's chess team aims to bounce back from a stinging seventh round defeat to Italy when it battles tougher Spain in the eighth round of the 42nd Olympiad Baku 2016 Open set Saturday evening, Philippine time, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Fresh from forcing a 2-2 standoff with 12th-seed Norway, whose world chess champion grand master (GM) Magnus Carlsen also was held to a draw by Filipino GM Julio Catalino Sadorra in board 1 of Round 6, 53rd-ranked Philippines absorbed a 1.5-2.5 beating from Italy.
Men's team captain James Infiesto, who hails from Davao City, said, "Heartbreaking last loss namin sa Italy kahapon because nauna kami nag 1.5-0.5 tapos natalo pa two players namin."
Sadorra split point with GM Daniele Vocaturo in their board 1 clash while GM Eugene Torre beat Italian GM Axel Rombaldoni in board 3. GMs John Paul Gomez and Rogelio Barcenilla succumbed to GMs Danyyil Dvirnyy and Sabino Brunello in boards 2 and 4, respectively.
Infiesto, however, said their match with Spain is expected to be an uphill battle.
"Mas delikado kalaro namin ngayon kasi halos equal strength ang boards 1 to 4 nila," Infiesto told VoxPop Davao in a Facebook interview Saturday afternoon, September 10.
The draw with Norway, according to him, was "very intense and very emotional".
He also lauded their teamwork, citing head of delegation lawyer Ruel Canobas, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) vice-president for Luzon, for inspiring and supporting the team.
Infiesto added that the players eat meals together so they can also talk.
At times they do morning walk at the park after breakfast and play table tennis or they play basketball after dinner.
"We pray together before every match. Prayer pa rin (will help us bounce back) and told them that we may not become the champion but we can inspire Filipino chess players by fighting to win," Infiesto said.
Philippines shared the 26th to 49th place after Round 7 with nine points while second seed United States of America zoomed to grab the solo lead with 13 points in the men's open.
Filipino GM Wesley So helped USA with five points in board 3 following four wins and two draws. He did not play in board 2.
Meanwhile, the 46th-ranked Philippines women's chess team also tallied nine points to share the 20th to 39th place.
The lady nationals lost to eight seed Hungary, 1-3, before beating Mexico, 3-1. Their next assignment will be Belgium.
