HENRY Lopez came through with one of his best performances to date as finished in the top 10 in the individual event while carrying the Philippine squad to a breakthrough podium effort in the team race of the World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities on Saturday.
Mr. Lopez, 41, flashed the Sicilian Najdorf like a magic wand and bedazzled Mongolian Tserenjav Tumenbayar in 38 moves to wind up in the seven-player logjam at ninth place with seven points out of the possible nine.
The multiple ASEAN and Asian Games Para Games gold medalist eventually wound up 15th overall after tiebreaks were applied.
The proud son of Panabo, Davao del Norte, however, ended up the best placed out of the five Filipinos who saw action and finished with an unbeaten result of five victories and four draws.
Mr. Lopez’s impressive effort catapulted the Filipinos, who are coached by James Infiesto, to a historic bronze medal peformance after totaling 25.5 points.
Powerhouses Poland and Russia grabbed the gold and silver with 29.5 and 28 points, respectively.
Accounting for the country’s strong finish were Jasper Rom’s 6.5 points and Sander Severino and Darry Bernardo’s six points apiece.
Rodolfo Sarmiento, the country’s fifth entry, ended up with five points but only four counted in the team tally based on tournament regulations.
“We improved from last year’s fifth place, now we’re third,” said Mr. Lopez, who battled polio when he was two years old.
“Great improvement for our team and we’re excited to get the championship next year in the over-the-board FIDE Olympiad para magkaalaman na kung talagang malakas ba ‘yung mga considered as chess powerhouses (so that we will know if the chess powerhouses are really strong),” he added. — Joey Villar