Spain conquers RP

From an explosive 4-0 performance in Round 1 against Korea, the RP Men's Team slowed down a bit by posting three draws and a loss in Round 2 of the 2010 Chess Olympiad.

Don't be deceived by the numbers because the three draws were hardly fought, with the games of GM Darwin and IM Richard Bitoon even having a chance of winning.

It was indeed a decent showing against Spain, but still short of something that we really aspire for - We wanted a win.

But I strongly believe that our team is in high spirits. May the initial and slight setback against Spain inspire our team more.

RP vs Spain Round 2 results:

Match 17. Spain	2.5-1.5	Philippines
1. Shirov, Alexei	½-½	So, Wesley
2. Salgado Lopez, Ivan	1-0	Gomez, John Paul
3. Magem Badals, Jordi	½-½	Laylo, Darwin
4. Alsina Leal, Daniel	½-½	Bitoon, Richard

Watch RP vs Spain ROUND 2 GAMES:
REQUIRES JAVA





For Round 3, the No.37 seed RP team will face No.63 seed team Scotland which is led by GM MCNab Colin who, according to Wordfunph of Barangay Wesley is the author of the following books:

Dangerous Weapons - The Pirc and Modern
The Fianchetto King's Indian
The Ultimate Pirc
Trends in the Classical and Stonewall Dutch
Trends in the English ...c5

We will see if McNab can put into action what he wrote in his books against GM Wesley So in their Board 1 encounter.

RP vs Scotland board pairings for Round 3:

Bo.	37	Philippines (PHI)	Rtg	-	63	Scotland (SCO)	Rtg	0 : 0
24.1	GM	So Wesley	2668	-	GM	McNab Colin A	2445
24.2	GM	Laylo Darwin	2522	-	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	2451
24.3	GM	Torre Eugenio	2489	-	IM	Burns-Mannion Stephen R	2372
24.4	IM	Bitoon Richard	2447	-	FM	Morrison Graham	2345

The Philippine team needs to win this match to sustain their high morale. The least our team could afford is to have a 2-2 output. Anything below that would be painful.

Go Philippines!!