So draws with Topalov; Torre scores

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So held his own against former world champion GM Veselin Topalov and forced a draw as the Philippines bowed to fancied Bulgaria, 1.5-2.5, in the eighth round of the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia Wednesday.

So, playing black, defended well against Topalov and claimed a moral victory with the draw after 52 moves of the Gruenfeld.

In a post-game analysis, experts said Topalov’s chances in the endgame are slightly better but the youthful Filipino managed to equalize with some adept rook and bishop moves.

In the final position, Topalov and So had a rook and three pawns each.

But even the hard-earned draw by So and the victory by Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre over IM Kiprian Berbatov on board four failed to save the day for the 37th-seeded Filipinos, who tumbled down to joint 42nd with nine points.

Torre, on a record 20th Olympiad appearance in 40 years, came away with the much-needed victory over the lower-rated Berbatov.

But GM John Paul Gomez succumbed to GM Ivan Cheparinov in only 29 moves of the English Open and and Darwin Laylo yielded to GM Aleksander Delchev.

The loss, which followed a similar 1.5-2.5 setback to Spain in the second round and 1-3 loss to Belarus in the sixth round, left the Filipinos five full points behind solo leader Ukraine.

Ukraine battled top seed Russia-1 to a draw to keep the solo lead with 14 points.

The Filipinos take on No. 69 Turkmenistan, which lost to India, 1-3, in the ninth round Thursday.

The RP ladies, meanwhile, were shut out by Vietnam in their worst showing in the 11-round tournament.

Dresden Olympiad top scorer Cheradee Chardine Camacho proved no match to WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram while Catherine Perena, Rulp Ylen Jose and Jedara Docena bowed to WIM Pham Le Thao Nguyen, WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An, respectively.

The loss also dropped the Filipinas to joint 49th with eight points.

The Filipinas play No. 62 Bolivia, which drew with ICSC, 2-2, in the ninth round.