The Philippine national chess team encountered another snag in its quest for glory in the ongoing 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway after failing to capitalize in its seedings advantage in Round 8 over the weekend.
The 52nd-seeded Philippine Open men’s team drew its match versus the 55th-seed Bangladeshi team in the 8th round, where Asia’s first grandmaster Eugene Torre (2438) tasted his first loss in the tournament after bowing down in board 3 against GM Enamul Hossain (2453).
The Philippines’ top player, GM Julio Sadorra (2590), rebounded from losses in the earlier rounds as he bested GM Ziaur Rahman (2532) in board 1, while GM John Paul Gomez and team captain GM Jayson Gonzales, who played his first game since replacing FM Paulo Bersamina, drew their matches in boards 2 and 4, respectively.
The draw dropped the Philippines to 76th place in the 200-country event.
The Philippines will next face 159th seed Pakistan.
In the distaff side, the 43rd-seeded Philippine women’s team lost to 14th-seed Bulgaria, .5 – 3.5 to drop to 47th place.
The team is composed of Jan Jodilyn Fronda, Cheradine Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna and Christy Lamiel Bernales.
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