BUDAPEST, Hungary—The Philippines dives into 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad action on Wednesday at the BOK Sports Hall here with nothing in mind but to eclipse its finish in the last edition in Chennai, India two years ago.
Grandmaster aspirant Daniel Quizon, whose trip is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, will man the top board for the men’s squad in the first two rounds, possibly three, as GM Julio Catalino Sadorra is scheduled to arrive in the Hungarian capital Friday.
Sadorra is arriving late due to work and family commitments.
“Handa po tayo,” said the 20-year-old Quizon, who, along with the rest of the team delegation, arrived yesterday in two batches.
International Master Paulo Bersamina will play second board, while GM John Paul Gomez and Jan Emmanuel Garcia the third and fourth boards, respectively, as they seek to surpass their 32nd-place finish two years ago in Chennai, India.
WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, for her part, will be the Filipinas’ spearhead for a team that also includes of battle-scarred Jan Jodilyn Fronda, Shania Mae Mendoza and Bernadette Galas and young and talented Olympiad debutant Ruelle Canino.
Frayna and her team are hoping to improve on their 39th-place performance the last time out.
The other members of the delegation are coaches GMs Eugene Torrre and Jayson Gonzales and delegation head Atty. Roel Canobas.
The pairings in this 11-round, Swiss System tournament, which will employ a scoring system of two match points per win and one match point per draw, was being drawn last night.
Gomez, who will be seeing action in his seventh Olympiad, said they’re ready for war.
“Siguro top 20 target namin, malakas din kasi ang field,” said Gomez, who and Sadorra will be the elder statesmen of the group being both 38 years old.
For Frayna, who skipped the chance of becoming the first Filipina to play for the national men’s team in the biennial meet to reunite with her women’s teammates, she’s just focused on making the country proud.
“Para po ito sa bayan natin,” she said.
