Sadorra delivers Phl team’s clincher over Chile

MANILA, Philippines - GM Julio Catalino Sadorra turned a drawish game into a resounding victory, beating GM Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder in 56 moves to power the Philippines to a 2.5-1.5 win over Chile in the fifth round of the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway Wednesday night.

GMs John Paul Gomez and Eugene Torre and IM Paul Bersamina drew with GM Mauricio Flores Rios, IM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra and FIDE Master Pablo Salinas Herrera, respectively, to help seal the Phl its second straight win for seven match points.

The victory put the Phl back into joint 25th with 18 others with Sadorra and company taking on the Austrians Friday after the 14-day tournament took a break Thursday.

With the match heading to a draw on equal position from a King’s Indian Attack, Sadorra, 28, tried to complicate things, trapping Schroeder’s rook at kingside and gaining a slight initiative in the process. He preserved his edge with superb endgame technique and pulled off the win after 56 moves.

The Phl, interestingly, will play on a board right beside sixth seed United States, which also has seven points after it was held to a 2-2 draw by a lower-ranked Canada team.

The US has tapped Wesley So as one of its coaches after the Webster U standout and former Phl top board player has switched federations.

But Sadorra has proved his worth thus far, posting three points, including a draw against former World Challenger GM Vassily Ivanhcuk of second seed Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Filipinas absorbed their second straight defeat, bowing to women’s world champion Antoaneta Stefanova and the 14th-seeded Bulgarians, 0.5-3.5, that dropped them to joint 61st.

Jan Jodilyn Fronda averted a shutout loss by holding WGM Adrianma Nikolova to a draw on Board Three as Cheradine Camacho, Janelle Mae Frayna and Christy Lamiel Bernales all lost their games to Stefanova, WGM Iva Videnova and WGM Margarita Voiska, respectively.

Torre remained unbeaten with 3.5 points on two wins and three draws while Bersamina has three points in five games.

Torre and Bersamina actually had a chance to win their respective matches but the former failed to notch the point with a queen against Henriquez’s two knights and the latter missing several winning chances after a furious exchange that netted him three connected queenside pawns for a piece.