THE Philippines opened its bid for an ambitious top 10 finish after blanking a listless Togo and Malawi, 4-0, in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively, on Wednesday in the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Michael Concio, Jr., Paulo Bersamina, Daniel Quizon and Jem Garcia all won in the men’s division as well as Mhage Sebastian, Ruelle Canino, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Shania Mae Mendoza in the women’s section to seize an early piece of the lead in this 11-round tournament.
The Filipinos, who placed 59th in Budapest, Hungary two years ago, were taking on seventh seed Azerbaijan, while the Filipinas, who were 24th and Category B gold winners in the last staging, were battling the Syrians in the second round as of this writing.
The Nationals, whose campaign is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, got an added motivation after delegation head Henry Oaminal, Sr., who is also the National Chess Federation of the Philippines deputy president for Mindanao, promised a reward of P1 million each if they finish in the top 10 or P500,000 for a top 20 effort.
The Misamis Occidental governor also vowed to reward P500,000 for a gold, P300,000 for a silver and P200,000 for a bronze, and P100,000 for an individual gold medal, P75,000 for a silver and P50,000 for a bronze.
Already, he also gave $500 to each member of the team.
In the simultaneously held Olympiad for People with Disabilities also in the same venue, the Philippines escaped with a 2-2 draw with against United States in the sixth and penultimate round on Wednesday to stay in the medal hunt.
Jasper Rom and Darry Bernardo delivered the match-tying wins on boards two and three, respectively, that made up for early losses by Henry Lopez and Cheyzer Mendoza on top and the lowest boards to jump to a three-way tie with the Czech Republic and Uzbekistan 1 with nine match points apiece.
The Filipinos tackle the top-seeded Poles, the current leaders with 11 points, or a point ahead of the second-seeded Cubans. — Joey Villar