Phl crumbles, slides to No. 21

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The Philippines missed out on a potential upset as it fell to former world champion Armenia, 2.5-1.5, and crashed out of the top 10 after six rounds of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad at the BOK Sports Hall Monday night.

The Filipinos appeared headed to adding another scalp into their growing collection when Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra caught his second super GM in Haik Martirosyan on board one with the rest of the lower boards — Daniel Quizon, Paulo Bersamina and John Paul Gomez — all fighting for draws.

But Quizon and Gomez fell to super GMs Shant Sargsyan and Robert Hovhannisyan and Bersamina couldn’t find anything from his one pawn edge and settled for a draw with another super GM Gabriel Sargissian that sealed the Filipinos’ fate.

From a share of No. 7, the Filipinos stumbled to a share of No. 21 with eight match points.

If there was silver lining in the defeat, it was Sadorra’s masterful win over Martirosyan as the University of Texas in Dallas coach brilliantly won a piece in a tight positional skirmish.

Martirosyan was Sadorra’s second super GM victim after the latter stunned Vladimir Fedoseev in a 2-5-1.5 upset of Slovenia the day before.

The Filipinas, for their part, sprang back to life following a 3-1 destruction of Bolivia with Shania Mae Mendoza, Janelle Mae Frayna and Jan Jodilyn Fronda delivering the victories on the top board.

The lone casualty was Bernadette Galas, who lost to Jessica Molina on board four.

The triumph shoved the team, mentored by GMs Jayson Gonzales and Eugene Torre with Atty. Ruel Canobas as delegation head, back in the thick of things as it shared No. 22 with a big group of eight pointers.

The 11-round tournament, which drew a record 196 in the men’s division and 181 in the women’s side, took a break yesterday and will resume today for the final five-round windup.

There, the Filipinos, seeded 51st, battle the 27th seed Croatians while the Filipinas, seeded 47th, clash with the 26th pick Argentines eyeing a win that would keep their hopes of contending alive.

“We recharge and we fight another day,” said Gonzales, whose participation is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission and National Chess Federation of the Philippines.