THE Philippine men’s team overpowered Tunisia, 4-0, while the women’s squad fell short on its bid of an upset after succumbing to 18th seed Hungary, 1.5-2.5, in the third round of the 46thWorld Chess Olympiad at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Grandmaster Darwin Laylo saw action for the first time after resting the first two rounds and delivered right away with a 51-move dispatching of FIDE Master Hamed Ben Ghanem of a Queen’s Pawn duel at board four in lifting the Filipinos to the lopsided victory.
International Masters Michael Concio, Jr., Pau Bersamina and Jem Garcia likewise hurdled their respective foes on boards one to three that helped them move into a 66-way jam at No. 30 with four match points each.
For the Filipinas, they got their points from draws by Mhage Sebastian, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda on the first three boards but their upset bid was averted by a stinging defeat by WFM Shania Mae Mendoza to WIM Kata Karacsonyi at board four.
The Filipina woodpushers had all the chances with Frayna and Fronda appeared to have an early positional edge and Mendoza turning an early opening disadvantage in what looked like an equal position.
But Frayna and Fronda couldn’t cash in on their edge and settled for truce while Mendoza lost her way and absorbed the painful defeat.
The setback sent the lady chessers slipping down to a 62-nation tie for No. 27 also with four match points apiece.
Both teams, financed by the Philippine Sports Commission, were eyeing for wins versus United Arab Emirates in the men’s side and Sri Lanka in women’s side in the fourth round at press time.