By REY BANCOD
The men rose and the women fell in the eighth round of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia Tuesday.
The Filipinos streaked to their third straight win in the Open division at the expense of Uruguay, 3-1, but suffered their second straight loss in the women’s section against Argentina, 2.5-1.5.
Following the mixed results, the Philippines climbed into a share of 30th place in the Open division with 10 points and slipped to a tie for 45th in the women’s bracket with 9 points.
Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra and International Master Haridas Pascua struck in board one and board four while GM John Paul Gomez and IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia settled for draws in the middle boards.
Sadorra, playing black, crushed the Guioco Piano Opening of GM Andres Rodriguez Vila in 42 moves.
After winning a pawn in the middlegame, Sadorra steered the positional contest into the endgame where he forced Vila to give up the bishop enroute to his fifth victory against three draws.
Pascua, on the other hand, downed FIDE Master Rafael Muniz in 28 moves with white for his fifth win against a loss and a draw.
In other matches, Gomez drew with FM Nicolas Lopez Azambuja while Garcia split the point with IM Luis Ernesto Rodi.
An uncharacteristic poor opening cost WGM Janelle Mae Frayna the match against IM Carolina Lujan in 28 moves. Playing white, she lost the exchange early and failed to recover to absorb her second defeat at board one.
WIM Catherine Secopito suffered her third straight loss at the hands of WIM Maria Florencia Fernandez at board two while WIM Bernadette Galas held WIM Marisa Zuriel to a draw in the fourth board.
WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego trounced WIM Ayelen Martinez after 68 moves to account for the team’s lone victory.
Despite Wesley So’s first loss at board two, the United States edged Azerbaijan, 2.5-1.5, to grab the solo lead in the Open section.
The defending champions now have 15 points, a full point ahead of Poland. Bunched with 13 points apiece were Azerbaijan, India, France, China, Armenia, Germany and England.
In women’s play, China and Ukraine share first place with identical 14 points. The US, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan are tied with 13 points apiece.
In Wednesday’s ninth round, the Philippines faces Zambia in the Open division and South Korea in the women’s bracket.
