Philippines stuns fifth seed Croatia at 3rd FIDE Chess Olympiad for PWD

THE PHILIPPINES pulled off a miraculous 2.5-1.5 victory over fifth seed Croatia in the fifth round on Tuesday to barge back into the top three and stay in gold medal contention at the 3rd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabili-ties (PWD) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Darry Bernardo delivered the match-clinching win over Domagoj Glazar on board three as the seventh-seeded Filipinos moved up to a three-way tie for third place with second seed Cuba and IBCA, a team composed of blind chessers, with eight match points.

They trail co-leaders Poland, the top seed, and the Czech Republic by just a point in this seven-round event that counts a match win for three points, a draw for a point and a defeat for none.

The Nationals, whose participation is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, were battling the Americans in the sixth and penultimate round as of this writing.

Cheyzer Mendoza came through with the Filipinos’ first win over Ana Vuljanic on board four that Jasper Rom followed by a draw with Ivano Mocic on board two knowing Mr. Bernardo was on the verge of winning.

He did.

Henry Lopez had a disastrous opening blunder and fell to International Master Branko Vujakovic on top board that got the Philippines into a bad start.

Good thing it turned out for the better for the Filipinos thanks to the heroics of Ms. Mendoza, Mr. Rom and Mr. Bernardo.

“It’s a miracle,” said Philippine playing captain James Infiesto. — Joey Villar