Torre loses anew as RP bows to India

BLED – Grandmaster Eugene Torre absorbed his third straight defeat as the Philippines succumbed to young but promising India, 1-3, Friday halfway through the 35th World Chess Olympiad.

Torre found Indian sensation GM Krishnan Sasikirana a tough nut to crack, losing in 70 moves while teener International Master Mark Paragua fell to Surya Ganguly in 41 moves of a super-sharp Sicilian encounter.

IM Nelson Mariano II had a chance of cushioning the country’s fall but blew away an advantage and halved the point with Praveen Thipsay in a marathon 80-move Ruy Lopez duel.

IM Buenaventura Villamayor drew with Pentyala Harikrishna in 29 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined, capping a disappointing defeat to a team without super-GM Viswanathan Anand.

The loss dropped the Filipinos in a share 40th place with 11 others with 15.5 points in this 14-round biennial event. They face Portugal in Saturday’s eighth round.

"It is disappointing, but we tried our best. Eugene was coming from a loss in the previous round, but we needed his services. He gave everything, but we were just unlucky," said RP non-playing captain Samuel Estimo.

Unlike Torre and company, the RP women’s squad, seeded at lowly 40th, gave the country something to be proud about after it drew with 23rd seed Israel, 1.5-1.5.

Teen sensation Arianne Caoili kept her hopes of a WGM result after she smashed WGM Masha Klimova’s English Opening in 30 moves, avenging her loss in the Istanbul edition two years back.

Olympiad first timer Kathlyn Ann Cruz, a 19-year-old St. Benilde student, bungled a positional advantage in a rook-and-pawn endgame to settle for a 51-move deadlock with Irina Botvinnik in yet another Sicilian battle.

Beverly Mendoza lost to WGM Angela Borshuk in 30 moves of an English game. They next play Iran.