Philippine women fall to Israel, see Chess Olympiad top-10 hopes take a hit

The Philippine women’s team missed out on another upset and fell to 22nd seed Israel, 1-3, in the ninth round Friday, derailing its bid for a potential top-10 finish in the 46th World Chess Olympiad at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna and Woman International Master Ruelle Canino both drew their matches against WIM Noga Orian and IM Masha Klinova on boards two and three, respectively. WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda-Grafil was the first to stumble, losing to WGM Viktoria Chernyak on board four.

Mhage Sebastian also fell on board one to IM Marsel Efroimski after appearing to be in a winning position. However, errant pawn exchanges and passive, repetitive knight moves allowed Efroimski to escape the difficult position and eventually snatch the victory.

Had Sebastian secured the win, the Filipinas—whose campaign is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission—would have earned a second straight draw after splitting their match with 23rd-ranked Romania in the previous round, putting them in prime position to make a run at a breakthrough top-10 finish.

It just wasn’t meant to be.

The loss sent the Filipinas into a 17-nation tie for 39th place with 11 match points each. They would need to sweep their remaining two matches, including their 10th-round clash with Costa Rica at press time, to duplicate or surpass their Category B gold-medal finish in the previous edition in Budapest, Hungary, two years ago.

The Philippine men’s team, meanwhile, also lost its way against an all-GM, Magnus Carlsen-less Norway squad, 1.5-2.5, dropping out of the top 50 with 10 match points.

The Filipinos appeared headed for a shocker after IM Michael Concio Jr. stunned Johan-Sebastian Christiansen on board one, while IM Jem Garcia drew with Aksel Bu Kvaløy on board four to give the Philippines an early 1.5-0.5 lead.

However, IM Pau Bersamina and GM Daniel Quizon could not deliver, falling to Elham Amar and Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal on boards two and three, respectively, to seal the Philippines’ fate.

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