Pinoy chessers fall

The Philippines yielded to Australia, 3-1, Friday but remained in quarterfinal contention a er eight rounds in the men’s side of the Asian Nations Online Chess Cup on Friday.

Grandmaster Mark Paragua averted an embarrassing shutout by carving out a win over GM Anton Smirnov on Board 1, as GM John Paul Gomez and International Masters Haridas Pascua and Paulo Bersamina fell by the wayside.

Gomez was the first to succumb at the expense of GM Max Illingworth on Board 3 followed by Pascua and Bersamina to GMs Temur Kuybokarov and Moulthun Ly on Boards 2 and 4, respectively.

The defeat pulled the Filipinos from a share of third down to sixth in the six-nation group with eight match points.