PH tackles Austria in 6th round

TROMSO, Norway—The Filipinos will try to sustain their run while their female counterparts will aim to stop their slide when the 41st Chess Olympiad resumes with the sixth round here Friday.

Their spirits lifted by narrow victories over the Finns and the Chileans, the Filipinos tangle with the Austrians starting at 2 p.m. (8 p.m. in Manila) at Mackhallen Hall.

Reeling from lopsided losses to the touted Spaniards, ranked No. 11; and the heralded Bulgarians, rated 14th, the Filipino girls are eager to recover against United Arab Emirates in the Women’s section.

While the PH ladies should have little trouble disposing of the lowly UAE bets, the Filipinos are expected to meet strong opposition from the higher-ranked Austrians halfway through the 11-round biennial meet that lured entries from a record 174 countries.

US-based Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra (Elo 2590) will have the toughest assignment as he’ll be handling black against Super GM Markus Ragger (2644) in their board 1 tussle.

GM John Paul Gomez (2526) will play white against GM David Shengelia (2556) in board 2 while venerable GM Eugene Torre (2438) will defend with black against International Master Robert Kreisl (2432).

Now accustomed to Olympic pressure, youthful IM Paulo Bersamina will initiate play against IM Andreas Diermar (2447) in board 4.

The Filipinos took advantage of the tournament’s first break to look for souvenirs Thursday afternoon  then studied the games of their opponents in the evening and Friday morning.

“We’re prepared to battle it out with the Austrians,” said the 62-year-old Torre, whose legend continues to grow with his unprecedented 22nd Olympic stint, including 17 straight at top board from 1972 to 2004. He was at the helm of the Philippine team that routed Austria, 3-1, in the 1984 Thessaloniki (Greece) Olympiad.

Incredibly, Torre, the only Filipino to have beaten a reigning world champion in Anatoly Karpov, leads the Filipinos in scoring with 3.5 points out of a possible 5.0, followed by Sadorra and Bersamina with 3.0 also in five games. Still groping for the form that enabled him to score 7.5 out of 11 and earn his GM title in the 2008 Dresden (Germany) Olympiad, Gomez only has 2.0 points to show.

Thus far, the Filipinos have amassed 7 match points on three wins, one draw (Bosnians) and one loss to the powerhouse Ukrainians, ranked No. 2 behind the Russians in the Open section.

Women’s action pits US-based WIM Chardien Cheradee Camacho against WIM Kholoud Essa Al-Zaroumie, Janelle May Frayna against WIM Amna Nouman, Jan Jodilyn Fronda against Aisha Al-Zarouni, and WIM Catherine Perena against Ali Abeer.