PHILIPPINES grabbed its third straight win in men's open Tuesday, September 6, after beating South Africa, 3.5-0.5, in fifth round of the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The 53rd-ranked Filipinos, thus, shared the seventh to 25th place along with 17 others with similar eight points.
Grand master (GM) Julio Catalino Sadorra defeated South African GM Kenny Solomon in board 1 while GM John Paul Gomez drew with international master (IM) Daniel Cawdery in board 2. GMs Eugenio Torre and Rogelio Barcenilla, for their part, outclassed IMs Watu Kobese and Donovan Van den Heever in the next two boards.
The Philippines, however, earned a total of 15.5 match points. with 4.5-scorer Torre leading. Barcenilla had four points while Gomez made 3.5, IM Paulo Bersamina with two and Sadorra with 1.5 points.
The 11th-seed Netherlands led fellow 10-pointers Ukraine and India via superior tiebreaks to snatch the top spot of the team rankings.
The Filipinos expect a tough battle against sixth round opponent Norway, seeded 12th in the event.
In women's side, 46th-ranked Philippines shutout Algeria, 4-0, to share the 17th to 30th place with seven points (13 match points). Russia and Ukraine shared the lead with 10 points each. (MLSA)