Philippine Chess

[batilsky]

Philippines virtually loses its goal of bringing home the gold, as they were prevented by the tough azerbaijan team to a draw, So and Garcia provided the points for the Philippines, seeded number 5 here as Pascua and Datu succumbed to defeat against their azeri counterpart. They now logged Russia with 2 points, with 24 after 9 rounds, and one point off againts second place India. Ironically, the leading Russia have lost their matches to both India and Philippines as they were able to amass only 1.5 points agaist their asian counterpart but prove to be unforgiving against lower rated teams.

[batilsky]

Wesley So have earned this year gold medal after beating his nearest rival eltaj safarli of Azerbaijan,he already has 8.5 points out of nine. compare to 7 points of second placer, IM Shimanov of Russia.

[geniokov]

Whatever places or position our country will attain after this tournament,i´m so proud of our chessplayers as well as their parents for giving them power,to GM Bong Villamayor & Idelfonso Datu for their support and to our NCFP Pres.Cong.Butch Pichay for this achievement.Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!!!...By the way,i think if i´m not mistaken,if we compute Wesley So´s ELO rating from the tournament which are still not yet included till now,it has reach already more or less 2620.

[jem]

Batilsky its not yet over. Mathematically with lady luck, Philippines can still be no.1. If Philippines sweep their last round against Isek Aquamatch seeded 20 and Russia and Azerbiajan draw their match, while India lose one board assignment to England, - Philippines, Russia and India will be tied at 28 points. With higher tie break, Philippines can be no. 1 in the said tournament. Phil.s, India, Russia have bukolz of 195, 191, 187 respectively. You can watch the games live at 3pm this afternoon. GO! GO! GO! TEAM PHILIPPINES. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gambit79]

MOdestly, I agree with jem. And our chances are not slim. It is not a dream for our team to sweep ISEK-AQUAMATCH. Looking at previous rounds, ISEK-AQUA performed not so well against the top half of the seedings, and our team is seeded 4th.

With that premise. If Azerbaijan gains at least 2 points from Russia, and England ekes at least 1 point from India, we can land at the top based on the Bucholz.

Now, AZE (seeded 3rd) have good chances with their well-performing GM Safarli against the Russian Shimanov at board 1, but Russia is expected to grab the fourth board. So let us pray for at least two draws for AZE on the middle boards. BUT, in the event that AZE beats Russia, we go at least one rung higher.

The well-performing Indians, with their morale fired up because of the Gaziantep result and their almost consistent performance in the earlier rounds, are expected to win. BUT we can just hope that the Englanders hold them back with draws. The chance for an equal result is greater (but not necessarily good) at boards 1 and 4, and less in the middle boards. Let's hope that the Englanders can take best advantage of any miscalculations by our Asian brothers... all in the spirit of sport. No ill-wishes intended. Hmm, is it too much to pray for even one win for the Europeans... at any board?

GO... GO... Team Philippines!

[gambit79]

Hmm, it is not only GM Wesley who appears poised to win a board medal (a GOLD), Jan Emmanuel also seems set to earn one (a SILVER) on his seat. Amazing!... considering the advantages of team support that the other countries' players have.

Kudos to the team, to the NCFP and to Cong P and his kind efforts, and others helping out. Just imagine if we can get our act together to the level of the preps and support (e.g., trainers, coaches, provisions and incidentals) of other countries. Here is one other sport where we can excel in.