Sadorra sizzles, tows Phl to 7th spot

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra pulled off probably the biggest victory of his career after beating super GM Vladimir Fedoseev to lead the Philippines to a shock 2.5-1.5 victory over 26th seed Slovenia and straight into the top 10 after five rounds of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall here.

The 38-year-old Sadorra fought his way out of a cramped position and pounced on Fedoseev’s costly blunders that allowed the Texas-based Filipino to eke out a 53-move win of a Queen’s Gambit Declined and lift the country, seeded 51st out of 197, to the stunning win over the 26th ranked Slovenians.

It catapulted the Filipinos, whose trip is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission through chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann and commissioner Ed Hayco, straight into the 22-country logjam at No. 7 with eight match points apiece.

It was an impressive triumph for Sadorra, whose kingside sacrificial attack left a trail of devastation on Fedoseev, a 29-year-old Russian émigré who was forced to give up her queen to fend off a smashing the former’s furious mating threat.

When the smoke of battle cleared, Sadorra was left with a queen and a bishop against Fedoseev’s pair of rooks and a knight that would inevitably fall had the latter not raised the white flag.

Completing the Filipinos’ massive win were fighting draws by newly minted GM Daniel Quizon, who will be rewarded P100,000 by National Chess Federation of the Philippines chief Prospero “Butch” Pichay for claiming the GM title on top of the P1 million he will receive from Dasmariñas in Cavite, and International Masters Paulo Bersamina and Jan Emmanuel Garcia in the lower boards.

The Philippines, coached by GMs Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales with Atty. Ruel Canobas as delegation head, takes on 17th seed Armenia, a squad that has four super GMs on its fold, in the sixth round.

The mammoth win in the open division softened the impact of the Filipinas’ heartbreaking 2.5-1.5 defeat to fancied Italy.

Shania Mae Mendoza’s fairytale run on board one ended following a stinging defeat to IM Marina Brunello while Janelle Mae Frayna, Ja Jodilyn Fronda and Ruelle Canino split their games.

They stumbled back into a big group at No. 37 with six match points and were battling Bolivia in the fifth round.

Interestingly, Asian teams have been lording it over this 11-round tournament with India, China and Vietnam sharing the top spot with host Hungary in the open section and India and Mongolia joining Armenia in the women’s lead, all with perfect 10 match points.