By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Philippines Team 1 once again leaned on Sander Severino and Darry Bernardo and salvaged a 2-2 draw against Israel to remain in the top 10 after four rounds of the 1st FIDE Online Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities Tuesday.
Trailing 2-0 after Cheyzer Crystal Mendoza and Henry Lopez suffered painful defeats, Severino and Bernardo came to the rescue by snatching wins over Grandmaster Yaacob Zilberman and International Master Arkady Shevelev on boards one and three to force the standoff.
Mendoza fell to Aleksandra Aleksandrova on board four while Lopez faltered in the endgame and succumbed to former world champion Andrei Gurbanov on board two.
The standoff kept the Filipinos in contention for one of semis slots after drawing level with eight other teams at No. 6 with six match points each.
Russia 1 and Germany led the way with perfect scores of eight points while Poland 1, Poland 2, and India 1 were in third, fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Philippines Team 2 was likewise held to a 2-2 draw by Brazil.
Max Dave Tellor and Cheryl Ingot downed Marcia Maria Dias Lopes and Tiago Dias Poloi in the lower boards that made up for stinging defeats by Menandro Redor and Felix Aguilera in the top boards.
The PH Team 2 is battling Colombia at posting time.
