So-led RP team stays in shadows of Under-16 chess tilt leaders

MANILA, Philippines – The Wesley So-led Philippine remained in the shadows of striking distance of leaders Armenia and India after the third round of the 2008 World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad on Monday at Mersin Great Municipality Sport Hotel in Mersin, Turkey. Team Philippines made its mark in the second round after scoring a 3-1 win over eighth-ranked Slovakia and drawing with sixth seed Georgia, 2-2, to tally 9.0 points to tie their third-round opponent in from fourth to third place. As expected, So led the Philippine campaign against Georgia when he beat FIDE Master Levan Bregadze to post the only win by the Filipinos against their foes from the former Soviet Republic. So, playing at the top board, notched his third straight win in the tournament. Filipino National Master Haridas Pascua and John Alcon Datu halved the point against Irakli Janiashvili and Nodar Davarashvili in Board 2 and 3, respectively. Georgian Board 4 player Giorgi Nikolashvili was able to salvage a 2-2 tie for his team with a victory against Jan Emmanuel Garcia in Board 4. Against Slovakia in the second round, So and Garcia defeated Tamas Petenyi and Josef Straka Jr, respectively, while Pascua and Datu were each forced to a draw by Stefan Mazur and Dominik Csiba. Meanwhile, India posted an upset win over top seed Russia, 3.5-0.5, and defeated third seed Azerbaijan, 3-1, to gain solo second place with 9.5 points. Armenia, on the other hand, took the lead with a victory over Greece, 3.5-0.5, in the second round and a win against Turkey-A, 3-1, in Round 3 to accumulate 10.5 points. In the fourth round, Armenia will face India while the Philippines will be meeting Turkey A. – GMANews.TV