By Rey Bancod
The Philippines saw its giant-killing run come to a screeching halt at the hands of Georgia 2 which completed a 3-1 triumph in the seventh round of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia Monday.
WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego halved the points in board 1 and 3 with the white pieces, but WIM Bernadette Galas suffered her first loss after winning her first three matches in the fourth board.
Also losing with black was WFM Shania Mae Mendoza in the second board.
The loss dropped the Filipinas to a share of 24th place with 9 points on four wins, one draw and two defeats in the women’s division.
Meanwhile, the Filipinos rolled to their second straight win in the Open section, edging Albania, 2.5-1.5.
Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra and International Master Haridas Pascua delivered the full points on both edges of the table while IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia preserved the win with a draw on board three.
GM John Paul Gomez was the lone casualty in the second board.
With four wins against three defeats, the Filipinos improved to a tie for 49th spot.
In Tuesday’s eighth round, the Philippines battles Uruguay in the Open division and Argentina in the women’s bracket.
After convincing wins against England and Spain, the Filipinas raised expectations at home, but found the host country’s second team a tough nut to crack.
Mendoza went down to WGM Inga Charkhalashvili in 50 moves while Galas bowed to WGM Miranda Mikadze after 38 moves.
Frayna, on the other hand, fought IM Salome Melia to a 55-move draw while San Diego halved the point with IM Sofio Gvetadze via repetition of moves.
With four rounds left, top seed United States, Azerbaijan and Poland pace the Open section with 13 points while Armenia is alone on top in the women’s division with 13 points, a point ahead of China, Ukraine, Georgia 1 and Romania.
Meanwhile, GM Wesley So, a Filipino playing for the US, is on track of winning the gold medal in board two after scoring 6 points in 7 matches.
