Bersamina replaces So in Olympiad-bound Phl team

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine team is replacing Grandmaster Wesley So with newly minted International Master Paulo Bersamina as it gears up for the 41st World Chess Olympiad slated Aug. 1 to 15 in Tromso, Norway.

"He will be replaced," National Chess Federation of the Philippine executive director and Phl non-playing captain Jayson Gonzales on Saturday told The STAR, referring to So.

Gonzales was reacting to the 20-year-old So's recent pronouncement that he is officially declining the invitation of the NCFP to play as the country's top board player in favor of coaching the United States team.

Bersamina, 16, will take the spot vacated by So, who is currently ranked 16th in the world rankings with a 2747 rating, by virtue of finishing third behind GMs Eugene Torre and John Paul Gomez in last week's Battle of GMs.

"Bersamina is next in line because he finished third in the Battle of GMs, which served as a qualifier to the Olympiad," said Gonzales.

Aside from Torre, Gomez and Bersamina, the other members of the squad are United States-based Oliver Barbosa and Julio Catalino Sadorra, one of whom could take over the top board spot vacated by So.

So claimed he had already filed documents of his decision to switch federations and had repeatedly sought clearance from the NCFP.

The NCFP, however, said there is no official letter from FIDE, or the international chess federation, of such transfer.

Susan Polgar, So's coach at Webster U, said one of the reasons So declined the NCFP invitation is that the June 1 deadline has lapsed but NCFP sources belied it by saying that it has already submitted So's name even before the deadline.

"She is fooling us all. Truth is, Wesley So has no application for transfer in the FIDE website. NCFP has also no letter from Wesley. The letter that Polgar released has no date," said the source.

Bersamina made headlines after topping his division and earning his last result to clinch the IM title.

Now Bersamina will have a chance to prove his mettle on the biggest stage of all – the Olympiad.