RP chessers fall short vs Belarus, 1-3, in World Chess Olympiad

Grandmaster Wesley So, the Philippines top chesser, salvaged a draw against GM Sergei Zhigalko, but the rest of the Filipinos faltered and lost to Belarus, 1-3, in the sixth round of the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. So, playing the top board for the Filipinos for the first time since his debut as a 12-year-old prodigy in the 2006 Turin Olympiad, wisely made the right continuation to escape with a draw with Zhilgalko in 35 moves of the Siclian Pelikan and Sveshnikov variations. So, who will turn 17 on Oct. 9, had a queen, rook and seven pawns against Zhilgalko’s queen, rook, knight and three pawns when the game was agreed drawn by repetition of moves. The Filipino champion (ELO 2668) actually initiated complications when he gave up a knight for two pawns on the 13th move, but the lower-rated Zhilgalko ( ELO 2640) kept the pressure in a queen and rook ending. GM John Paul Gomez also battled to a draw with GM Vitaly Teterev in 40 moves of the King’s Indian, but GM Darwin Laylo lost to Evgeniy Podolchenko in a marathon 92-move encounter of the Queen’s Indian defense. Another Pinoy woodpusher, International Master Richard Bitoon, bowed to IM Kiril Stupak in 58 moves of the Neo-Gruenfeld. The setback, which came after back-to-back victories over Paraguay and Uruguay and a one-day rest, proved fatal for the Filipinos, who dropped into a tie for 39th to 62nd places in the 149-team, two-week long tournament considered as the ‘Olympics’ of chess. The 37th-seeded Filipinos remain with only seven points, four points behind defending champion Armenia, Ukraine and Georgia based on the match point-style scoring system which gives two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss. Armenia, led by GM Levon Aronian , and Georgia, bannered by GM Baadur Jobava, drew with each other, 2-2. Ukraine whipped Hungary, 3-1, with GM Vassily Ivanchuk beating GM Peter Leko and GM Pavel Eljanov downing GM Judit Polgar. The Filipinos, however, will try to recover lost ground when they meet lowly No. 100 seed Puerto Rico, 2.5-1.5 winner over Iraq in the sixth round. - RCJ, GMANews.TV