RP chessers finish Olympiad joint 37th

BLED, Slovenia – The Philippines unexpectedly fell 2.5-1.5 to Bangladesh, winding up tied for 37th place with eight other countries at the end of the 14th and final round of the 35th World Chess Olympiad.

GM Eugene Torre took his fifth loss and grandmaster hopeful Mark Paragua fell to his second defeat against Bangladesh. But the Philippines’ two unbeaten players, IM Nelson Mariano II and GM, Joey Antonio took the cudgels for the Filipinos.

Mariano beat fellow IM Hossain Enamul in 47 moves of a Sicilian Defense while Antonio settled for a draw after missing a win in their 52-move French Defense struggle against IM Reefat Bin-Sattar.

Torre lost to GM Ziaur Rahman in 52 moves of an Indian Defense and Paragua surrendered in a 50-move Benoni Defense against IM Abdulah Al-Rakib.

"The loss was unfortunate for us since we only needed to win 2.5-1.5 to get into the top 20," said Philippine captain Samuel Estimo.

In the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad, the Philippine men’s team finished in a tie for 17th place.

Estimo said a lot of hard work is needed by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) to revitalize the country’s image in chess.

"The Southeast Asian Games is just around the corner and we will have to make it one of our top priorities," he said. In this Olympiad, Vietnam and Indonesia finished half-a-point just below the Philippines’ 30.5 points.

Eight gold medals are at stake in chess, according to the organizing Vietnamese Chess Federation.

Estimo said chances for medals are bright since the Philippines is the top Southeast Asian nation in this 141-nation event organized every two years by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

The women’s team, which started out so promisingly, ended in a tie with Sri Lanka for 63rd place with 19.5 points after being drubbed by Turkey, 2-1.

Grandmaster candidate Arianne Caoili defended Yildiz Betul Conre in 23 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Decline, but WIM Beverly Mendoza resigned in a 20-move Sicilian to Nilufer Cinar and Sheerie Joy Lomibao fell to 14-year old Keskin Serap.