Torres saves the day anew as PH woodpushers nip Costa Ricans

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines drubbed Costa Rica, 3.5-2.5, to zoom to the Top 15 in the men's division even as the women's team missed a win and settled for a 2-2 draw with Canada after the fourth round of the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan Monday night.

Paulo Bersamina provided the first win on board four by extricating himself out of an opening bind and pulling off a 43-move win over fellow International Master Alexis Murillo Tsijli of a Nimzo-Indian Defense.

Grandmaster John Paul Gomez, who is playing board one for the second straight game after top player GM Julio Catalino Sadorra was rushed to the hospital complaining of constant headaches, followed suit by dismantling IM Sergio Minero Pineda's French Defense in 44 moves.

GMs Eugene Torre and Rogelio Barcenila, Jr., however, were in a losing position. But the 64-year-old veteran found a way to escape with a 64-move draw against GM Bernal Gonzales Acosta despite being a pawn down and in cramped position the whole game.

It was Torre's second match-saving effort for the second day in a row after he also delivered the clincher in the Phl's 3-1 win over Nigeria the day before.

Torre's draw somehow inspired Barcenilla, playing his first Olympiad stint since suiting up in the 1996 Yerevan Olympiad, in turning a positional disadvantage into a marathon 74-move triumph over IM Leonardo Valdez Romero on third board.

"Eugene (Torre) saved the day for the team again. He relied on his experience and mastery of the endgame," said NCFP executive director and women's team captain GM Jayson Gonzales.

The win thus sent the Filipinos in a big group tied at 14th spot with six match points apiece and should get a chance to barge into the top 10 if they could hurdle the lower-ranked South Africans in the fifth round.

The Phl though could play with the same Gomez-Torre-Barcenilla-Bersamina line up since Sadorra, who has only played a game in the second round that ended up in a draw, is still doubtful as of posting time.

Interestingly, the Filipinos are just a shade behind former teammate GM Wesley So and the United States squad, which was held to a 2-2 standoff by the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, the Filipinas missed a victory as Jan Jodilyn Fronda blew her material advantage after losing to WIM Yuan Yuanling on second board to settle for the draw.

Rookie Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza delivered a win on her first game in the Olympiad stage by downing World Candidate Master Maili-Jade Ouellet on board four while WIMs Janelle Mae Frayna and Catherine Secopito split the point with FM Zhou Qiyu and Lali Agbabishvili on first and third boards.

The Phl fell out of the top 20 and into the top 30 with five points and will tackle a weaker Algeria next.