The Philippine team wound up in fifth place in its division in the ongoing FIDE Online Chess Olympiad being played at the chess24.com server.
The national team, bannered by GMs Mark Paragua, Rogelio Barcenilla and Rogelio Antonio Jr.; WGM Janelle Mae Frayna; WIM Jan Jodelyn Fronda; IM Daniel Quizon; and WIM Kylen Joy Mordido, was bunched with nine other countries in Division 2, Pool A, for a single round robin competition where, according to my understanding (so far) of the six-page tournament regulations, the top two teams in the four top divisions will produce the 8 qualifying countries for the final knockout playoff stage. If my interpretation is correct, the Filipinos are out of it already. But how to do the final placements of teams? I have no intention of investing time to decipher the regulations, so I guess we’ll just have to wait until the final pawn of the Olympiad is pushed.
The final standings is Division 2 Pool A in match points: 1. Bulgaria, 18; 2. Germany, 15; 3. Indonesia, 12; 4. Australia, 11; 5. Philippines, 10; 6. Belarus, 8; 7. Belgium, 6; 8. Turkmenistan, 5; 9. Bangladesh, 3; 10. Kyrgyzstan, 2.
Paragua, M (2529)-Kovalev, V (2648) [A05]
Online Olym Div2 A 2020 chess.com (4.1) 2020
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.b3 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Ba3 e4 9.Bxf8 Qxf8 10.Nd4 e3 11.Nc3 Ng4 12.Qd3 exf2+ 13.Kh1 Na6 14.Rad1 c6 15.h3 Nc5 16.Qf3 Bd7 17.b4 Re8 18.e4 Na6 19.a3 Bc8 20.b5 Nb8 21.bxc6 bxc6 22.Nde2 Be5 23.Nf4 Ba6 24.Nce2 Nf6 25.Nd3 Bxd3 26.cxd3 c5 27.Qxf2 Nc6 28.Rc1 Nd4 29.Nxd4 Bxd4 30.Qa2 Qd6 31.Rf3 Kg7 32.Rb1 Re7 33.g4 Nd7 34.Qd5 Qxd5 35.exd5 Ne5 36.Rff1 Nxd3 37.d6 Rd7 38.Rb7 Nf2+ 39.Kh2 Rxd6 40.Kg3 Rf6 41.Bd5 h5 42.Rxa7 hxg4 43.hxg4 c4 44.Rxf7+ Rxf7 45.Bxf7 c3 46.Bb3 Ne4+ 47.Kg2 Nd2 48.Rf7+ Kh6 49.Bc2 Kg5 50.Rd7 Be3 51.Rd3 Bf4 52.Rxc3 Kxg4 53.a4 Be5 54.Rc6 g5 55.a5 Kf4 56.a6 Bd4 57.Rd6 Ke5 58.Rxd4 Kxd4 59.a7 1-0
Maznitsin, A (2277)-Antonio, R (2421) [A29]
chess.com (1.2) 2020
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Be7 8.d3 0-0 9.Be3 Be6 10.Ne4 Bd5 11.Nc5 f5 12.Rc1 f4 13.Bd2 Bxc5 14.Rxc5 Qd6 15.Rc1 Kh8 16.a3 Rae8 17.b4 a6 18.Qc2 fxg3 19.fxg3 e4 20.dxe4 Bxe4 21.Qc5 Qxc5+ 22.Rxc5 Nd7 23.Rcc1 Bd5 24.Rf2 Nf6 25.Bf4 Ng4 26.Rff1 Rxe2 27.h3 Nf6 28.Bxc7 Rfe8 29.Rce1 Bxf3 30.Re2 Be2 31.Re1 Bc4 32.Rc1 Bd5 0-1
Taher, YT (2455)-Barcenilla, R (2463) [C25]
chess.com (2.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.Be3 Nd4 8.h3 Be6 9.Qd2 Qd7 10.f4 h5 11.Bf2 c5 12.Nd1 Nxe2 13.Qxe2 h4 14.fxe5 hxg3 15.Bxg3 dxe5 16.Nf2 Nc6 17.c3 0-0-0 18.b3 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.0-0-0 Bh6+ 21.Kb1 Qg7 22.Bxc6 Qxg3 23.Bf3 Bd5 24.Bxd5 Rxd5 25.Rde1 Bf4 26.Rhg1 Qh4 27.Qf3 Rd7 28.Rg2 Qh5 29.Qxh5 Rxh5 30.Kc2 Kc7 31.Rg6 Rhh7 32.Rh1 Rdg7 33.Rhg1 Rf7 34.Re1 Rhg7 35.Reg1 Rh7 36.Re1 Kd7 37.Kd1 Ke7 38.Ke2 Rf6 39.Rg8 Rf8 40.Rg6 Rf6 41.Rg8 Rf8 42.Rg6 Rh6 43.Rg7+ Rf7 44.Rg8 Kf6 45.Reg1 b6 46.R1g2 Rhh7 47.R2g6+ Ke7 48.Ra8 Rh6 49.Rxa7+ Kf8 50.Ra8+ Ke7 51.Rgg8 Rd6 52.Ra6 e4 53.Ra7+ Kf6 54.Rf7+ Kf7 55.Rg1 Be5 56.de4 Bc3 57.Rd1 Re6 58.Kf3 Bd4 59.Re1 Bxf2 60.Kf2 fe4 61.Ke3 Rh6 62.Kxe4 Re6 0-1
Ovezdurdiyeva, J (2061)-Frayna, JM (2179) [D93]
chess.com (9.3) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Be6 7.Ng5 Bc8 8.Qb3 c5 9.cxd5 cxd4 10.exd4 Nbd7 11.Be2 Nb6 12.Bf3 h6 13.Nge4 Nfxd5 14.Be5 Nxc3 15.Qxc3 Nd5 16.Qd2 f6 17.Bg3 f5 18.Nc3 Nxc3 19.bxc3 g5 20.Be5 Bxe5 21.dxe5 Qxd2+ 22.Kxd2 Be6 23.Bxb7 Rad8+ 24.Kc2 f4 25.Be4 Rc8 26.Rab1 Rc4 27.Bd3 Rc7 28.c4 Rfc8 29.Rb4 Bxc4 30.Bxc4+ Rxc4+ 31.Rxc4 Rxc4+ 32.Kd3 Ra4 33.Ra1 Kf7 34.h4 Ke6 35.h5 Kd5 36.f3 Ra3+ 37.Kd2 Kxe5 38.Re1+ Kf6 39.Ra1 e5 40.Kc2 e4 41.fxe4 Rg3 42.Rd1 Rxg2+ 43.Kb3 g4 44.Rd6+ Ke5 45.Rxh6 f3 46.Rh7 f2 47.Rf7 Rg3+ 48.Kc2 Rf3 0-1
Vogel, R (2456)-Quizon, D (2319) [E94]
chess.com (3.5) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 exd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Be3 Re8 10.f3 Nh5 11.Nc2 Nf6 12.Qd2 Be6 13.Rad1 Ne5 14.b3 Qc8 15.Bh6 Bd7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.c5 Nc6 18.cxd6 cxd6 19.Nb5 Rd8 20.Nxd6 Qc7 21.Qf4 Qb6+ 22.Kh1 Be6 23.Qe3 Qc7 24.Nb5 Qe7 25.Ncd4 Nxd4 26.Nxd4 a6 27.Rd2 Rac8 28.Rfd1 Re8 29.Nxe6+ Qxe6 30.Bc4 Qe7 31.e5 Qxe5 32.Qf2 b5 33.Bf1 Qf4 34.Rd4 Qc7 35.Rd6 Rcd8 36.Qd4 Rxd6 37.Qxd6 Qc2 38.Qd2 Qc7 39.a4 bxa4 40.bxa4 Re6 41.Qd4 Qe7 42.Qc3 Re5 43.Bxa6 Re3 44.Qd2 Qe5 45.Bf1 Ra3 46.Bb5 Nd5 47.h3 Ne3 48.Re1 h5 49.Bd3 Ra1 50.Be4 Nf1 51.Qf2 Qh2# 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Bh6! Black’s futile options are 1…Qxe8 2.Bxg7#; 1…Sd4 2.Bf4#; 1…Kd4+ 2.S4d6#./PN
