Philippines routs Iceland in fifth round

MANILA---The 35thseed Philippine chess team scored a 3-1 victory over 51st-seed Iceland in the fifth round of the 40th Fide World Chess Olympiad early Sunday morning (Manila Time) in Turkey.

GM Oliver Barbosa (2554) and GM Mark Paragua (2508) scored fullpoint wins for the Philip- pines, which rebounded from a heart-breaking loss to third seed Armenia, 2.51.5, in the fourth round.

Barbosa defeated known chess author GM Henrik Danielsen (2511) after 35 moves of Bogo-Indian defense by accumulating small advantages and finishing with good technique in Board 2, while Paragua outmaneuvered IM Dagur Arngrimmson (2375) in 48 moves of a Slav Defense in Board 4 to complete the country’s fourth win in five rounds under the match point scoring system being used for only the third time in the Olympiad since 1927.

The match point scoring system awards two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss.

GMs Wesley So (2652) and Eugene Torre (2469) drew with GMs Hannes Stefansson (2515) and Throstur Thorhallsson (2426) in Boards 1 and 3, respectively.

So split the point with Stefansson after 31 moves of Sicilian defense, Najdorf variation, while the 60-year-old Torre, dubbed as “The Ageless Warrior,” agreed to a draw with Thorhallsson after 34 moves of Scotch Opening.

Over-all, the Filipinos notched eight points for a share of fifth to 21st places, two points behind tournament co-leaders Russia and Armenia. Seventh-seed Azerbaijan and 19th-seed Croatia have 9 points each for a share of 3rd to 4th place.

The Pinoys will next meet Bulgaria, which beat 71st-seed Peru, 2.5-1.5. (PR)