Pinays bow to Hungarians

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines couldn’t cash in on its chances versus 18th seed Hungary and suffered a heartbreaking 1.5-2.5 defeat Friday night in the 46th World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda seized a positional edge and the initiative after the opening play but could only extract a draw on boards two and three while Mhage Sebastian battled her way from a cramped position and escaped with a split.

It wasn’t the case for Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza, who appeared to have survived her opening inaccuracies with a strong middlegame only to throw it away with poor endgame play and lost to WIM Kata Karacsonyi at board four.