Heavyweight Armenia stops run of Pinoys

GRANDMASTERS  Wesley So (2652), Oliver Barbosa (2554) and Mark Paragua (2508) drew their fourth round matches but International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling (2428) lost his as the Philippines incurred its first loss in the 40th FIDE World Chess Olympiad early Saturday morning against heavyweight Armenia, 1.5-2.5 in Istanbul, Turkey.

So’s draw with GM Levon Aronian, the world No. 2 ranked player, even drew praise from his opponent who raved about the Filipino’s solid play.

However, Dimakiling’s loss to GM Gabriel Sargissian (2693) after 25 moves of Irregular Opening on Board Four doomed the Filipinos.

“We lost against Armenia, a powerhouse in the chess world but today we have shown to the whole world that Philippine chess is a future world power. No less than world No.2 Levon Aronian (2816) praised Wesley So who salvaged a draw against his higher-ranked foe. I thought mukhang mananalo pa sana si Wesley,” said NCFP head Prospero “Butch” Pichay who watched the seven-hour encounter live through the internet.

Aronian told Chessdom.com editor-in-chief Goran Urosevic: “He (Wesley So) is a talented player from a country with great chess culture.”

Meanwhile, Dimakiling apologized for his loss.

“Pasensiya na po masama ang laro ko kanina. Babawi na lamang po tayo. Maraming salamat sa suporta n’yo po and God bless us to all,” said the Davao City native.

SO PRESERVES RECORD

The 51-move draw preserved So’s “No-Loss Record vs GMs with 2700+ rating” for the 34th time. Aronian has an Elo rating of 2800+.

The 35th seed Filipinos, who earlier beat the 112th seed Libyans, 4-0, the 26th seed Moldovans, 2.5-1.5, the 40th seed Kazakhs, 4-0, before losing to the Armenians, are stuck with six points and dropped into a tie for 16th to 36th places along with their fifth round opponent No. 51 Iceland, who edged No. 72 Turkey, 2.5-1.5.

The Olympiad is using a new scoring system that gives two points for each won match, a point for a draw and none for a loss.

In other notable men’s results,  Russia downed China, 3-1; Ukraine nipped Poland, 3-1; and Hungrary routed Slovakia, 3-1 while the US and India battled to a 2-2 draw.

Armenia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungrary remained on top with eight points.

The Phl women’s team, on the other hand, toppled Mexico, 3-1,  to jump to a share of 13th to 31st spots with six points.

WIM Catherine Perena, WNM Janelle Mae Frayna and WNM Jan Jodilyn Fronda won their respective matches to negate WFM Rulp Ylem Jose’s loss on board two.

The Filipinas, seeded 57th, will meet 61st-seeded South Africa which downed FYROM, 2.5-1.5.