RP chessers fashion out big twin kill
By Ernesto Gonzales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:27:00 11/19/2008
Filed Under: Chess
Mean’s team standings after five rounds:
9.0 points—Russia, Armenia, England, Ukraine, Germany, Azerbaijan; 8.0—France, Poland, Bosnia, India, Sweden, Israel, Georgia, China, Romania, Belarus; 7.0—Philippines, Spain, Colombia, Hungary, Netherlands, Moldova, Norway, Iceland, Vietnam, USA, Belarus, Greece, Finland , Germany-2, Cuba
DRESDEN, GERMANY—Teenage board wonders Wesley So and Chardine Cheradee Camacho hacked out superb wins to spark a victory double by the Philippines Tuesday in the 38th World Chess Olympiad at the International Congress Center here.
After surprise package John Paul Gomez won for the third time on board 3, the 15-year-old Grandmaster So rallied from a pawn down with black on board 2 to clinch the Filipinos’ 2.5-1.5 triumph over a tenacious, all-GM Iran.
Camacho, the youngest national here at 14, checkmated Judy Gao in just 14 moves of a Classical Caro-Kann and Daisy Rivera and Christy Bernales picked it up from there as the Filipinas whipped their New Zealand foes, 3.5-0.5.
It was a big comeback for the Filipinas who took a similar 3.5-0.5 crushing from Belarus in Round 4, but their male counterparts celebrated more with their finest showing so far in the 11-round tournament.
So, the country’s top player, downed GM Elsha Moradiabadi in 85 moves of a Slav, patiently squeezing out the win after his rival miscalculated an attack to further expose the Filipino’s king.
“Bibilib ka sa puso ng bata (You’ve got to be impressed by the kid’s heart),” said coach Idelfonso Datu of So, who steered the game away from a draw through a repetition of moves by his rival and secured the full point with only 49 seconds left on his clock.
Gomez, the International Master from De La Salle University, outplayed GM Amir Bagheri in 56 moves of a Ruy Lopez to raise his team-leading output to three wins and two draws in five games.
So was just a win behind, though, with a 2-2 win-draw slate.
Bong Villamayor counted with a draw on board 1 against GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, who needed all his defensive genius in the endgame to split the point after 50 moves of a Catalan.
The RP casualty was Darwin Laylo on board 4, who suffered his first loss in four games after 38 moves of a Scandinavian to GM Morteza Mahjoob.
“I like our position now with six rounds left,” said Olympic old hand Eugene Torre, who passed up the national qualifying and made it here as the non-playing RP team captain.
The victory raised the team’s output to seven points, just two off joint leaders Russia, England, Ukraine, Germany-1, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
A bigger test awaits the 38th-ranked Filipinos in Round 6 when they go up against Spain, the No. 12 seed which boasts at least two super GMs.
The rookie-laden women’s team now has five points after clinching a second win against the Kiwis.
Rivera proved too much for WFM Sue Maroroa in 67 moves of a Sicilian on board 2 while Bernales whipped Vivian Smith after 30 moves of an exchange variation of the French on board 4.
Shercila Cua, manning the top board in place of Catherine Pereña, completed the RP romp with a 40-move draw of a Catalan with WFM Helen Milligan.
Like their male counterparts, they face an uphill battle against the 20th-ranked Sweden in the next round.
Wednesday is a rest day and with the temperature at minus-2 centigrade, the girls stayed in their rooms while the boys, all bundled up complete with bonnets and gloves, opted for a relaxing walk downtown.
Russia, led by GMs Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk, drew with host Germany, 2-2, in the day’s top pairing among leading nations.
In other featured matches in the men’s division, Armenia edged Netherlands, 2.5-1.5; Ukraine humbled Hungary, 2.5-1.5; Azerbaijan bested Norway, 3-1; and England outplayed Italy, 2.5-1.5.
China, bannered by GMs Wang Yue and Bu Xiangzhi, nipped Scotland, 2.5-1.5, while India, led by GMs Krishnan Sasikiran and P. Harikrishna, crushed Austria, 3-1.
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