Philippines routs Vietnam 3-1 at World Chess Olympiad
Playing chess
The Philippines defeated Vietnam 3-1 in the penultimate round of the 10th round of the World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, to come closer to achieving its best-ever result.
Woman International Masters Marie Antoinette San Diego, Kylen Joy Mordido, and Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna all triumphed expertly on boards 1, 3, and 4 to complete the surprise victory.
Only WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda of the four lost, and it was a painful defeat at the hands of WGM Nguyen Thi Ma Hung on the second board.
The Philippine Sports Commission-supported Filipinas, who won their games in the other boards to secure the victory and a place with 10 other nations in 22nd place with 13 match points, made it difficult to notice.
At the time of publication, the nation was in a matchup with 14th-selected Cuba in the final round, and victory would give the former its best finish in the biennial competition since coming in 22nd in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1988, when powerhouse nations the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were still one country, and 26th in Turin, Italy in 2006, after the two countries split into multiple republics.
Regardless of the outcome of their most recent game, the Filipinas had also surpassed their 67th place finish in the previous overall standings of the biannual event in Batumi, Georgia, four years prior.
The Filipinos, however, thrashed Guatemala 4-0 to improve to a tie for 41st place with 18 nations and 12 points.
