Pinays blast Venezuelans, move to 24th

No. 18 Croatia routs Philippines  men’s team

MANILA, Philippines — Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna and Woman International Master Bernadeth Galas thumped their respective rivals to power the Philippines to a 3-1 romp over Venezuela in the third round of the World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia Wednesday night.

Frayna pounced on IM Sarai Carolina Sanchez Castillo’s opening misadventures and carved out a 45-move victory of a Caro-Kann Defense on the top board while Galas debuted in style, coming through with a superb endgame technique to turn a one-pawn edge into a 79-move triumph over Woman FIDE Master Marvia Arcila in an Alekhine Defense on board four.

WIM Catherine Secopito and WFM Shania Mae Mendoza forced draws with WIM Tairu Manuela Rovira Contreras and WFM Corals Patino Garcia, respectively, to seal the win for the Filipinas, who moved to joint 24th in a 48-nation field with four match points.

The Pinay chessers victory made up for their 1.5-2.5 defeat to Slovenia in the second round and for their counterparts’ stinging 1-3 setback to No. 18 Croatia as Olympiad rookies IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Haridas Pascua yielded to GM rivals and faltered under the bright lights of the sprawling Sports Palace Batumi.

Garcia, 22, blundered away his drawing chances and lost to Ante Brkic on board three while the 25-year-old Pascua, who didn’t see action in the second round after complaining of a headache and sinusitis, succumbed to Sasa Martinovic.

GMs Julio Catalino Sadorra and John Paul Gomez split the points with GMs Ivan Saric and Marin Bosiocic, respectively, on last board.

Frayna, 22, continued to anchor the Phl’s campaign sponsored by the Phl Sports Commission as she swept her first three matches that included triumphs over WIMs Vania Fausto Da Vilhete of Mozambique and Laura Unuk of Slovenia.

Frayna and Galas, who didn’t see action in the first two rounds, hope to sustain their form as the Phl tangles with No. 29 Slovakia, which took a 0.5-2.5 beating from Iran.

The Filipinos, on the other hand, were clashing with the Estonians in the fourth round at press time.