Mendoza provides spark for Filipinas

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Shania Mae Mendoza continued to reciprocate the trust shown to her when she was assigned to play on board one to help will the Filipinas to a 4-0 drubbing of Jordan in the third round of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall here Friday.

The Filipina Woman FIDE Master from Sta. Rosa, Laguna dismantled Natalie Fuad Kamel Jamaliah’s Sicilian Defense in 41 moves that was complemented by victories in the other boards — Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas.

With the impressive result, the Filipinas, whose trip was being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission through chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann and sports commissioner Ed Hayco and backed by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), sprang back to life and barged into the top 30 in a big group with four match points.

The 26-year-old Mendoza was trusted with the toughest board assignment by national women’s coach GM Jayson Gonzales to give Frayna and Fronda, their top two bets, more scoring chances in the lower boards.

So far, she has defied the odds and produced impressive results with 2.5 points, including that stunning draw with American IM Gulrukhbegim Tohirjonova that prevented a shutout the round before.

“She’s been doing great,” said an impressed Gonzales, also NCFP chief executive officer, referring to Mendoza.

Also bouncing back from the painful defeat the day before was the men’s team, which crushed Madagascar, 3.5-.5, on victories by International Master Pau Bersamina, Grandmaster John Paul Gomez and IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia on boards two to four and a draw by GM Julio Catalino Sadorra on top board.