After a fairly successfully first two rounds, the Filipinos’ campaign in the ongoing 41st Chess Olympiad 2014 in Tromso, Norway suffered a slight setback after its GM Eugene Torre-led men’s team grasped for form against the mighty Ukraine team on Monday.
The Philippines’ lone victory in the open division was courtesy of FIDE Master Paulo Bersmina, who defeated GM Alexander Mioseenko, 1-0, to become the bright spot for the Pinoys on an otherwise bleak tournament day in Round 3.
GM John Paul Gomez bowed down to international chess star, GM Ruslan Ponomariov, 0-1, while GM Julio Catalino Sadorra drew his match versus the legendary GM Vassily Ivanchuk. Torre settled for a draw against GM Anton Korobov.
The Philippines failed to secure a spot in the top 30 in the open division as France grabbed hold of the top followed by Serbia, Russia, Uzbekistan, The Netherlands, Romania, China, Azerbaijian, Israel and Bulgaria, respectively.
The women’s bets of the Philippines were also not as lucky as they, too, absorbed a couple of drawn matches, a victory and a loss in the third round against Poland.
Jan Jodilyn Fronda came out as the brightest star for the Filipinas as she defeated Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska, while Women’s International Master Catherine Perena stumbled against Marta Bartel, 0-1.
Top prospect WIM Chardine Cheradee Camacho drew her match versus Monika Socko while WFM Janelle Mae Frayna also agreed to a draw with Jolanta Zawadzka.
The Philippine women’s team is currently at 13th spot with two wins and one draw followed by Poland at 14th. Twelve teams are currently tied in a logjam atop the ladder with similar records after Round 3.
These teams are Iran, China, Armenia, Russia, Indonesia, The Netherlands, Hungary, Cuba, Georgia, Slovakia, Azerbaijian and Germany.
The Philippines opened up its campaign in the women’s division with three wins and a drawn match against Palau in round 1 and registered a perfect score of four wins in the second round versus the ICCD team.
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