TROMSO, Norway—The revered warrior and the talented plebe joined forces Tuesday as the Philippines downed Finland, 2.5-1.5, in the fourth round of the Open section of the 41st Chess Olympiad here.
Grandmaster Eugene Torre, record holder for most Olympiad stints with 22, and rising International Master Paulo Bersamina downed IMs Mikael Agopov and Vilka Sipila in the lower boards to secure the Filipinos’ second victory against a draw and a loss.
GM John Paul Gomez halted his two-game slide with a draw against IM Mika Kartunen in board 2, negating the loss of GM Julio Catalino Sadorra to GM Tomi Nyback in board 1.
While the Filipinos climbed to a share of 45th to 63rd places in the 174-team field with five match points, their female counterparts tumbled in the standings after a 4-0 rout from Spain.
A day after holding eighth-seeded Poland to a 2-2 draw, the Filipinas got bamboozled by the 11th ranked Spaniards and, with five points, dropped into a tie for the 35th to 48th places among 137 teams.
Flaunting his strength with white in the Larsen Attack, the 62-year-old Torre forced Agopov to resign in 30 moves as Asia’s first GM was threatening mate with his queen and rook.
According to Torre, the only Filipino to have beaten reigning world champions, he has won 14 games in the Olympiad using the moves popularized by GM Bent Larsen of Denmark.
Torre, the Filipinos’ top scorer thus far with 3.0 points, will try to sustain his inspiring run when he faces IM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra in board 3 of the Philippines’ fifth round tussle with Chile starting at 2 p.m. (8 p.m. in Manila) Wednesday at Mackhallen Hall.
Recovering from a second round defeat to Super GM Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine, the 16-year-old Bersamina mated Sipila with his queen and rook in 45 moves using the unusual Sicilian B3 variation.
While the Filipino men acquitted themselves against the Finns, the women’s team of Chardine Cheradee Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Christy Bernales fell in succession to Spaniards IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez, IM Olga Alexandra, IM Ana Matnadze and WIM Amalia Aranaz Murillo.
The Filipinos next face the formidable Bulgarians, who are ranked No. 14 and are led by top board player and former women’s world champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova (Elo 2505) in Round 5.