BUDAPEST. – The Philippines tries to make it back to the top 10 when it clashes with 27th seed Croatia in the men’s division and 26th pick Argentina in the women’s side in the seventh round of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall here Wednesday.
The Filipinos stumbled from a share of No. 7 to a big group at No. 21 with eight points after falling to Slovenia in the sixth round Monday but could catapult back to contention if they hurdle the all-Grandmaster Croatians, a traditionally strong chess country that was part of the former mighty Yugoslavia.
The Filipinas, who trounced the Bolivians 3-1 in the sixth, needs to pull the rug from the fancied Argentines to boost their drive for a higher finish.
GM Julio Catalino Sadorra will man the top board anew and shoot for another victory after bringing down two super GMs in Vladimir Fedoseev in a 2.5-1.5 win over Slovenia and Haik Martirosyan in a 2.5-1.5 defeat to former champion Armenia.
The University of Texas in Dallas coach could face another super-GM in Ante Brkic and should have his hands full.
While Sadorra isn’t thinking of it yet, he has a chance at an individual medal at board one as he is currently ranked fifth in that race with a tournament performance rating of 2879.
He trails Indian Dommaraju Gukesh (2998), American Fabiano Caruana (2987), Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2948), and Vietnamese Le Quang Liem (2881).
Also seeing action for the country are Daniel Quizon, Paulo Bersamina and John Paul Gomez, whose trip is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission and the NCFP.
Shania Mae Mendoza, Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Ruelle Canino suit up for the women.
The whole team, including coaches GM Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales was treated to a city tour by delegation head Atty. Ruel Canobas Tuesday during the tournament break.
“The team is recharged and ready to go again. We’re hoping for the best in the final five rounds,” said Gonzales, also the NCFP chief executive officer.
