RP Women's performance in 2010 Chess Olympiad

RP Team (Men and Women) in the 2010 Chess Olympiad. BACK ROW, from right: GM John Paul Gomez, IM Richard Bitoon, GM Wesley So, GM Darwin Laylo (GM Eugene Torre not in photo). FRONT ROW: WFM Catherine Pereña, WFM Shercila Cua, WFM Chardine Cheradee Camacho, Rulp Ylem Jose and Jedara Docena. Photo courtesy of Chardine.

RP Women's OVERALL PERFORMANCE

Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pts.	Games	Rp
1	WFM	Camacho Chardine Cheradee	2186	PHI	1	½	1	½	1	1	0	0		½	½	6,0	10	2196
2	WFM	Perena Catherine	2103	PHI	1	0	1	0		1	½	0	1	0		4,5	9	2021
3	WFM	Cua Shercila	2099	PHI	1	0			½	1	0		½		1	4,0	7	2042
4		Jose Rulp Ylem	2039	PHI	1	0	1	½	½	1	1	0	1	½	½	7,0	11	2075
5		Docena Jedara	2033	PHI			1	1	0			0	1	½	½	4,0	7	2001

The RP's Women's Team gave their last ounce of courage to defeat Team Brazil in the last round of the 2010 Chess Olympiad to post a decent 44th place finish, ahead of their initial No.52 seeding.

Though they fell short of improving the country's 43rd finish in the 2008 Dresden Olympiad, this young group of WFM Chardine Cheradee Camacho, WFM Catherine Pereña, WFM Shercila Cua, and untitled Rulp Ylem Jose and Jedara Docena holds a lot of promise.

These Pinay heroines exhibited gallant stand to erect a +5-4=2 performance, with three of their five victories done via ruthless 4-0 shutouts. More than the figures, these Pinays unleashed a remarkable sense of bravery and tenacity in their desire to win - a characteristic which hopefully redefines the image of the global Filipina.

Thier overall performance was highligted by their stubborn draws against No.23 seed Team Israel in Round 4 and Team Argentina in Round 5, which only proved that if given the needed support, our Filipina chess warriors could really be at par with the world's leaders.

The loss to neighbors Vietnam and Indonesia, however, positioned the state of Philippine women's chess in relation to where we are now and where we are heading. Yes, we might have the jewels, the ladies. But the question is: are we polishing them enough so that we bring out the brightest sparkle in them?

It's been my view here that one way of empowering Philipine women's chess is to 'feminize' Philippine chess. When I say feminizing Philippine chess, let's provide more incentives and spaces for women in how chess is run in the country. Give them more seats at the NCFP, in chess clubs, in arbitration, etc.

Pause for a moment and consider this: in the past stagings of the Battle of Grandmasters, the gap of prizes in the Men's and Women's division have always been insulting the distaff side. How can you promote women's chess that way?

Our Pinays just deserved praises and thanks for their successful campaign in the 2010 Chess Olympiad.

Let's all hope and pray that that's just the beginning of a rosier future ahead of Philippine women's chess.

Mabuhay ang Pinay!!