Torre to the rescue as RP draws with Scotland

KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia—Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre celebrated his record 20th World Chess Olympiad appearance with a crucial win as the Philippines salvaged a 2-2 draw with lowly Scotland in the third round at the Khanty-Mansisyk Sports Center on Friday.   The 58-year-old Torre, playing in his 237th game in a record 20th Olympiad stint, outlasted IM Stephen  Burns-Mannions (Elo 2372) in a marathon 74 moves of the Guico Piano to give the 37th-seeded Filipinos the face-saving draw with the 63rd-seeded Scottish side.   The Filipino chess icon’s win made up for the surprise defeat of GM Darwin Laylo to GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant on board two, after GM Wesley So on board one and IM Richard Bitoon on board three were held to draws.   Arakhamia-Grant, one of several female players competing in the men’s division, beat Laylo in 37 moves of the Sicilian Kan game.   So drew with GM Colin McNab in 35 moves of the Modern defense, while IM Richard Bitoon split the point with Fide Master Graham Morrison.   Arakhamia-Grant, a 42-year-old former top Georgian player, got the better of Laylo following a series of exchanges.   The draw with the Scots pulled down the Filipinos into a tie for 63rd to 85th places with three match points based on the scoring system that gives two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss.   It was Torre’s 87th Olympiad win against 111 draws and 39 losses for a total of 142.5 points—the third highest score by a player, in a tie with GM Svetozar Gligoric of the former Yugoslavia.   Only Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch (176.5 points) and Argentine GM Miguel Najdorf (145) have better records.   In women’s play, the Filipinos posted their second 4-0 shutout win, this time over Qatar.   The 52nd-seeded squad remained in contention with four match points.