TROMSO, Norway—Their situation has been reversed. It’s now the Filipinos, not their female counterparts, who are in dire straits in the 41st Chess Olympiad.
The Filipino girls trounced the Egyptians, 3-1, at Mackhallen Hall here Saturday to climb back to the upper bracket of the Women’s section after seven rounds of swinging fortunes.
In contrast, the Filipinos yielded to the Belgians, 1.5-2.5, with the second straight setback pulling them down to unfamiliar depths in the Open section.
Rising Woman International Master Janelle Mae Frayna sparked the onslaught when she triumphed over Woman Grandmaster Shrook Wafa in 32 moves of a French Defense (Winawer variation).
Their morale boosted, fellow WIMs Catherine Perena and Jan Jodilyn Fronda also prevailed as the Filipinos, ranked 43rd among 146 bets, made it two in a row for nine match points that pushed them into a tie for the 23rd to 38th spots.
The newly married Perena, board 1 player in the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad, extracted the win over WFM Sohayla Abdelmenaem after 37 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined, while Fronda sealed the Nationals’ fourth win against two losses a draw by besting WIM Ayan Moaataz after 75 moves.
Only United States-based Chardine Cheradee Camacho fell by the wayside as she bowed to WGM Khaled Mina in their top board encounter.
Youngster Paulo Bersamina faltered against fellow International Master Stefan Docs in board 4, and Grandmasters Julio Catalino Sadorra, John Paul Gomez and Eugene Torre were unable to counter in the upper boards, settling for draws that put them at 76th to 98th places among a record 177 entries in the Open section.
Sadorra split the point with GM Luc Winants, Gomez agreed to a truce with Bart Michiels, and so did Torre against IM Tanguy Pingoir.
The loss of Bersamina forced team captain GM Jayson Gonzales, also the executive director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, to field himself for the Philippines’ crucial eighth round match against Bangladesh, which will also parade an all-GM team, starting at 2 p.m. (8 p.m. in Manila) Sunday.
The Bangladeshis showed their mettle with a 3-1 seventh round pounding of the Paraguayans.
Absent from tournament play for the past three years, Gonzales will try to summon the form that made him the Philippines’ top scorer, 8 points in 11 games, in the 2004 Calvia (Mallorca, Spain) Olympiad when he tackles veteran Niaz Murshed in board 4.
Gonzales, who also took part in the 2008 Dresden (Germany) Olympiad ,will handle white against Murshed, regarded as Torre’s counterpart back home.
In their last meeting in the 2002 Bled (Slovenia) Olympiad, the Bangladeshis stunned the Filipinos, 2.5-1.5, in the 14th and last round.
The Filipinos, however, won the other two encounters (2.5-1.5) in the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad and 3.5-0.5 in the 1994 Moscow Olympiad.
The PH girls will try to crack the top 20 when they tangle with the solid Mongolians, who are ranked 15th notches higher at No. 28.
Camacho will try to bounce back against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul while the 18-year-old Frayna will take on WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg in boards 1 and 2.
Currently Team Philippines’ top performer with 5.5 points after 7 games, Fronda faces Woman Fide Master Uuuganbayar Lkamsuren in board 3 while Perena, competing in her fifth straight Olympiad, tangles with WIM Bayanmuukh in board 4.
The seventh round saw Czechoslovakia stun top seed Russia, 3-1; Kazakhstan shock No. 2 Ukraine, 2.5-1.5; Bulgaria drub Netherlands, 3-1; and Romania thwart Croatia, 2.5-1.5, in the Open section.
In other crucial matches, Azerbaijan downed Cuba, 2.5-1.5, China routed Serbia, 3.5-0.5, and Germany bested Norway 1, 2.5-1.5, with Super GM Arkadij Naiditsch humbling world champion Magnus Carlsen in board 1.
Ranked only No. 8, Azerbaijan paced the field with 13 match points followed by 12-pointers China, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania and 11-pointers France, Cuba, Armenia, India, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Germany and the USA.
Defending champion Russia continued to flaunt its might in the Women’s section with a 3-1 demolition of chief rival China. The match was highlighted by GM Kateryna Lagno’s conquest of world champion Hou Yifan.
Russia climbed to a perfect 14 match points, pulling away from 12-pointers China, Hungary, which tamed Romania, 2.5-1.5; and Poland, which was held to a 2-2 standoff by France.
Lodged at 11 points were France, Georgia, US, Ukraine, Armenia, Colombia and Indonesia, which drew with Iran.