TROMSO, Norway—It was Julio Catalino Sadorra’s turn to deliver the clincher for Team Philippines Wednesday as he bested fellow Grandmaster Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder of Chile en route to a fifth round 2.5-1.5 squeaker that boosted the Filipinos’ stock in the Open section of the 41st Chess Olympiad here.
Sadorra, a business administration cum laude graduate of University of Texas at Dallas, was ahead in material and was about to force a rook exchange when Schroeder surrendered their board 1 Reti Opening encounter after 56 moves.
Coupled with the earlier draws forged by GM John Paul Gomez and International Master Paulo Bersamina in boards 2 and 4, respectively, Sadorra assured the Filipinos of victory as GM Eugene Torre, manning board 3, was then in a no-loss situation against IM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra.
Left with a queen against Villagra’s two knights, Torre tried hard for a win with black, but his effort went for naught as it turned out to be really a book draw with the right defense.
Though playing in a record 22nd Olympiad, Torre said he had never encountered the closing situation before and spent 113 moves before agreeing to a truce that gave him 3.5 points, the best score among the Filipinos who have 7.0 match points out of a perfect 10.
Not wanting to risk complications, Gomez settled for a draw with GM Maurio Flores Rios after 38 moves while Bersamina split the point with Fide Master Pablo Salinas Herrera in a queen-bishop versus queen-pawn ending after 83 moves.
The Filipinos, playing without relief, have also beaten the Afghans (3.5-0.5), and the Finns (2.5-1.5); drawn with the Bosnians (2-2) and bowed to the all-Super GM Ukrainians (3-1), ranked No. 2 among 174 teams.
Seeded only 52nd sans Super GM Wesley So, who have transferred to the US Chess Federation as head coach of its men’s team, the Philippines climbed to a share of 25th to 42nd in the standings being led by Azerbaijan, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Cuba, Uzbekistan and Georgia with 9.0 match points each.
Up next for the Filipinos in the sixth round on Friday are the Austrians, who are ranked higher at 41st. While the Filipinos are revving up, the PH ladies are sputtering.
Facing their third straight strong opponent, the 43rd-ranked Nationals got clobbered by the No. 14 Bulgarians, 0.5-3.5, and remained at 5.0 match points.
Only Woman IM Jan Jodilyn Fronda, the 2013 UAAP co-Athlete of the Year from De La Salle, managed to escape with a draw against Woman Grandmaster Adriano Nikolova in board 3 of a Sicilian Alapin variation.
US-based WIM Chardine Cheradee Camacho yielded to former world women’s champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova in their Benoni Defense board 1 tussle, while WIMs Janelle Mae Frayna and Christy Lamiel Bernales bowed to WGM Iva Videnova and WGM Margarita Voiska, respectively.