Shutout wins for PH teams in Olympiad

ISTANBUL, Turkey—Team Philippines revved up its drive in the 40th Chess Olympiad with twin shutout victories Tuesday at Istanbul Expo Center.

The Filipinos clobbered the Libyans, 4-0, while their female counterparts replicated that score against the Pakistanis to join the early leaders in both the Open and Women’s divisions with 2.0 match points each.

While the opening matches were a breeze  for the Philippines, the second round could be bumpy as both teams will be up against higher-ranked opponents.

Ranked 35th among a record 158 teams in the Open section, the Filipinos will battle the 23rd-ranked Moldova while the Filipinas, rated 57th among 116 Women’s teams, will tackle No. 16 Slovenia at 3 p.m. (8 p.m. Manila time) Wednesday.

Despite the big disparity in rankings, however, National Chess Federation of the Philippines executive director Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales, who doubles as coach here, is hopeful of creditable performances by both teams.

More so with the GM Wesley So-powered men’s squad.

So (Elo 2652), who is taking a two-week break from his studies at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, will handle white against Super GM Viktor Bologan (2734) in their board one tussle.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old So, whose luggage had yet to arrive Wednesday morning, handily won over Abobker Elarbe and so did Barbosa against FM Ahmed Al-Zayat, Paragua against FM Hussien Asabri and Dimakiling against Hassan Asabri.

Woman International Master Catherine Perena (2091), a former University of the Philippines standout making her fourth straight Olympic appearance, dumped Zenubra Wasif to complete the annihilation of the Pakistanis.

Woman Fide Master Rulp Ylem Jose, who’s pursuing her Master in Business Administration degree at far Eastern University, trounced Nida Mishraz Siddiqui; Frayna subdued Ghazzda Shabbir Khuaja, and Docena whipped Fatima Shabbir Khuaja from boards 2 to 4.

NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, who’s monitoring the Olympiad via Internet in Manila, concurred with the strategy to rest GM Eugene Torre, who’s grieving from the death of his mother on Saturday.