BUDAPEST— Shania Mae Mendoza continued to reciprocate the trust shown to her when she was assigned board one as she helped will the Filipinas to a 4-0 drubbing of the Jordanians in the third round of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall here Friday.
The Filipina Woman FIDE Master from Sta. Rosa, Laguna dismantled Natalie Fuad Kamel Jamaliah’s Sicilian Defense in 41 moves that was complemented by victories in the other boards—Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas.
Thanks to the impressive result, the Filipinas sprang back to life and barged into the top 30 in a big group with four match points.
The 26-year-old Mendoza was trusted into the toughest board assignment by national women’s coach GM Jayson Gonzales to give Frayna and Fronda, their top two bets, more scoring chances in the lower boards.
And so far, she has defied the odds and produced impressive results with 2.5 points including that stunning draw with American IM Gulrukhbegim Tohirjonova that prevented a shutout the round before.
Also bouncing back from the painful defeat the day before was the men’s team, which crushed Madagascar, 3.5-.5, on victories by International Master Pau Bersamina, Grandmaster John Paul Gomez and IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia on boards two to four and a draw by GM Julio Catalino Sadorra on top board.
Still trying to overcome the jetlag after a long flight from the United States, Sadorra, who turned 37 yesterday, played his first game, ran into trouble when he went two pawns down, but clawed his way out of it by creating attacking opportunities that resulted to a draw in 30 moves of the Catalan via repetition.
The country will play lower-ranked Monaco next with IM Daniel Quizon, who rested in the third round, expected to suit up on board two to chase that two rating points he needs to become a full pledge GM.
To date, the 20-year-old Dasmarinas bet has a 2498 rating, just a couple of rungs from breaching the 2500 GM plateau.
