RP Men bow to Belarus

The RP Men's Team didn't just lose against Team Belarus in Round 6 of the 2010 Chess Olympiad - our team lost badly.

Instead of gaining momentum after beating Team Uruguay in the previous round, the Philippine Team stepped hard on the break to barge into a 1-3 bitter loss against lower rated Belarusians.

The draw against Scotland, the hairline win over Paraguay, and the dismal loss against Belarus have exposed a weak spot in the RP Men's Team.

The cure to the weak spot, I think, could be found in the underlying strength of the RP Women's Team - (watch the games of our Pinays for you to find out).

Surprisingly, it is the most "senior" (ooopss, sorry for the word, but I mean most veteran) team member of the RP Team - no other than GM Eugene Torre himself - who has been exhibiting youthful rush in this team tournament.Torre's Round 3 victory and two hardly fought draws in Rounds 4 and 5 speak of a distinctive character of a time-honored Olympian.

RP vs Belarus match results:

16. Philippines (7/13)	1-3	Belarus (7/14)
1. So, Wesley	½-½	Zhigalko, Sergei
2. Gomez, John Paul	½-½	Teterev, Vitaly
3. Laylo, Darwin	0-1	Podolchenko, Evgeniy
4. Bitoon, Richard	0-1	Stupak, Kirill

RP vs Belarus Round 6 games:
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In Round 7, the RP Men's Team will face No.100 seed Team Puerto Rico whose strongest player has en Elo rating of 2250. It's no longer a question of winning, but of expectation.

The interesting question is: When would the RP Men's team perform beyond expectation in the 2010 Chess Olympiad? That remains to be seen.

RP vs Puerto Rico board pairings:

Round 7 on 2010/09/28 at 15:00
Bo.	37	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	-	100	Puerto Rico (PUR)	Rtg	0 : 0
24.1	GM	Gomez John Paul	2527	-	CM	Machin Rivera Mark	2229
24.2	GM	Laylo Darwin	2522	-	IM	Montalvo Alejandro	2250
24.3	GM	Torre Eugenio	2489	-	CM	Vazquez Reyes Raul	2217
24.4	IM	Bitoon Richard	2447	-	CM	Ovalle Burgos Ramon	2201