Women chessers rise to 13th; Torre averts rout

GRANDMASTER Eugene Torre continued to sparkle but the Philippine team’s bid for a top-10 finish dimmed further after absorbing a 1.5-2.5 defeat to 14th-seed Spain in the eighth round of the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday night.

The women’s team rebounded, though, with a 4-0 demolition of lower-ranked Belgium that pushed it to a share of 13th to 21st places in the distaff side.

Moving up to board two, Torre subdued GM Luis Salgado to bolster his chances for board three top honors.

Only IM Paulo Bersamina managed to back him up with a draw as United States-based GMs Julio Catalino Sadorra and Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. bowed to GMs Pons Vallejo and Guijni Anton on boards one and three, respectively.

Mired at 9.0 match points, the Filipinos plummeted to a share of 49th to 71st places among a record 180 teams being led by the Americans, the Indians and the Ukrainians with 14 points each.

Torre tallied his sixth win against two draws for 7.0 points in eight matches.

With their fifth victory, the Filipino women climbed to 11 match points.

WIM Janelle Mae Frayna beat Woman Fide Master Hanne Goosens on board one to stay on track to becoming the country’s first Woman Grandmaster.

Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Catherine Secopito and WFM Shania Mae Mendoza also won their games. Roy Luarca