THE 53rd-ranked Philippines men's chess team beat No. 70 Costa Rica, 3.5-1.5, in Round 4 of the ongoing 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan Monday, September 5.
Filipino grand master (GM) John Paul Gomez outclassed international master (IM) Sergio Minero, 1-0, in board 1 while GM Eugenio Torre split point with GM Bernal Gonzalez in board 2. GM Rogelio Barcenilla and IM Paulo Bersamina subdued Costa Rica bets Leonardo Valdes and Alexis Murillo in boards 3 and 4, respectively.
The Filipinos, thus, improved to six points following their three wins with a total of 12 match points, according to team captain James Infiesto of Davao City.
Torre led the cast with a total of 3.5 points followed by Gomez while Gomez and Barcenilla each had three points. Bersamina added two points while GM Julio CatalinoSadorra made half a point (0.5).
They will next face South Africa, seeded 79th, in Round 5 of the 11-round Swiss System format competition.
South Africa, which also has six points with 10.5 match points, eked out a 3-1 upset win over 40th-seeded Austria in third round.
Third-seeded China led five other eight-pointers Azerbaijan 1, Netherlands, India, Belarus, and Ukraine.
Top-ranked Russia dropped to 14th place with six points, sharing it with 33 others including the Philippines and South Africa.
Meanwhile, the 46th-seeded Philippines women's team drew with 40th-ranked Canada, 2-2, to earn a total of five points (with nine match points) to share the 32nd to 51st spot after the fourth round.
Woman IM Janelle Mae Frayna forced a draw with Fide Master Qiyu Zhou while WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda beat WIM Yuanling Yuan and WIM Catherine Secopito also tied with Lali Agbabishvili in the first three boards. Woman Fide master (WFM) Shania Mae Mendoza, however, lost to Maili-Jade Ouellet.
The female Filipino chessers will test their mettle opposite Algeria in the next round.
