RP ties Scotland, stays in contention
Saturday, 25 September 2010 00:00

BY EMIL C. NOGUERA
REPORTER

The Philippines drew with Scotland, 2-2, in the third round of the men’s division to stay in contention in the prestigious 20th World Chess Olympiad at the Khanty-Mansisyk Sports Development Center in Russia. Asia’s first Grandmaster (GM) Eugene Torre, playing for the 20th time in Olympiad, defeated International Master (IM) Stephen Burns-Mannions in marathon 74 moves of the Guico Piano that served as the saving glory of the RP squad.

GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant won over GM Darwin Laylo on board two in 37 moves of the Sicilian Kan variation.

GM Wesley So, on the other hand, split the point with GM Colin McNab in 35 moves of the Modern defense, while IM Richard Bitoon also drew with FIDE Master (FM) Graham Morrison.

The Filipinos are now into a tie for 63rd to 85th places with three match points based on the scoring system that gives two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss.

For the record, it was Torre’s 87th win in the Olympiad against 111 draws and 39 losses for a total of 142.5 points—the third-most score in a tie with GM Svetozar Gligoric of Serbia.

The Philippines tackles No. 84 seed Paraguay in the fourth round.

So faces IM Jose Fernando Cubas, GM John Paul Gomez takes on FM Manuel Latorre, Torre meets FM Guillermo Vasquez and Bitoon battles FM Eduardo Peralta.

In the women’s division, the Filipinas posted their second 4-0 victory over lowly Qatar.

Cheradee Chardine Camacho, Catherine Perena, Rulp Ylen Jose and Jedara Docena swept their respective assignments to keep the 52nd-seeded Filipinas in contention with four match points.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Tags: , ,