Philippines finishes second in elims; faces India in semis

Bo.	6	Philippines	Rtg	-	10	Kyrgyzstan	Rtg	2½:1½
2.1	GM	So Wesley	2669	-		Shukuraliev Algis	2376	1 - 0
2.2	GM	Gomez John Paul	2522	-		Samakov Nurdin	2380	1 - 0
2.3	GM	Laylo Darwin	2527	-		Akylbekov Nasyr	2376	0 - 1
2.4	GM	Torre Eugenio	2484	-	FM	Tologontegin Semetey	2330	½ - ½

Philippines vs Kyrgyzstan GAMES
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I was among those who expected a win by the Philippine Team over Team Kyrgyzstan in Round 7 of the 2010 Asian Games - Men Chess Team event. The expectation was right on the mark, but we saw that the win was not a walk in the park nonetheless.

GM Wesley So and GM John Paul Gomez were simply too classy over their opponents, brutally forcing their untitled rivals to wave the white flag in only after 27 and 28 moves, respectively.

It was a different story, however, in the lower boards. Led only by a FIDE Master player and whose other three players were untitled, Team Kyrgyzstan put up a very decent stand against the all-GM Philippine squad by erecting a gallant 1.5-2.5 opposition. The Philippines' GM Darwin Laylo (2527) suffered a bitter upset against untitled Akylbekov Nasyr (2376) while GM Eugene Torre was on the receiving end when the truce was agreed against FM Tologontegin Semetey (2330), the only titled player in Team Kyrgyzstan.

The Philippines' 2.5-1.5 win over Kyrgyzstan showed what the Filipino chess heroes could accomplish but which their Vietnamese counterparts failed to execute. Team Kyrgyzstan brutally shamed Team Vietnam in Round 5 via a 3.5-0.5 massacre, probably Kyrgyzstan Team's best and Vietnam's worst showing in international team competitions. Notably, Kyrgyzstan's three untitled 2300-rated players beat Vietnam's three 2600-rated GM players.

After seven rounds of elimination, the Philippine Chess Team finished solo second with a total of 12 team match points, only two points off the leader Team China.

This world-class performance by the Philippine Chess Team earned them a ticket to the semi-final round against Team India, the Team Philippines' victim in Round 5.

The classy performance by the Philipine Chess Team in the eliminations was a clear statement that PHILIPPINE CHESS is world-class. I hope that the Philippine sports authorities provide more support to this sport where the Filipinos can truly excel.

Let's pray that our team make a repeat over India in the semis. GO PHILIPPINES!!

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1		China	7	7	0	0	14	20,0	145,5
2	6		Philippines	7	6	0	1	12	18,0	118,0
3	2		India	7	4	1	2	9	18,5	139,5
4	7		Iran	7	3	2	2	8	17,0	93,0
5	8		Qatar	7	4	0	3	8	17,0	73,5
6	4		Vietnam	7	3	2	2	8	16,5	101,5
7	5		Uzbekistan	7	3	2	2	8	13,5	82,0
8	10		Kyrgyzstan	7	3	1	3	7	14,5	78,5
9	14		Iraq	7	3	1	3	7	14,0	63,0
10	9		Bangladesh	7	3	0	4	6	15,5	88,0
11	3		Kazakhstan	7	2	2	3	6	14,0	104,5
12	13		Mongolia	7	2	2	3	6	13,0	63,5
13	11		Yemen	7	3	0	4	6	12,0	46,0
14	15		Korea	7	2	0	5	4	6,5	13,5
15	16		Maldives	7	1	1	5	3	9,0	43,0
16	12		Jordan	7	1	1	5	3	9,0	32,0
17	17		Lebanon	3	0	1	2	1	3,0	17,0