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The white-wielding Rom earlier overpowered Christopher Leonel Garzon Zapatanga of Ecuador in 32 squeaker of his pet Sicilian Grand Prix Attack to match Severino’s five of seven output. Sarmiento, on the other hand, notched four points after defeating Beksultan Kudaibergenov of Kyrgyzstan with black in 47 moves of the King’s Indian defense.
Now the Checkmaters have the chance to pull the rags from under Camarines on Saturday’s finale of the second round elimination with the latter leading them by just a single point, eight-13 to seven-14 win-loss slates, for the last disputed-eight spot at stake in Southern division before the start of the playoff round.
Registered para-athletes can complete and send their requirements to pilipinasparagames@gmail.com and its official Facebook page. Official list of participants will be announced on November 12.
In his back-to-back triumphs after a disastrous second round, the white-wielding Bernardo had surprisingly diverted from his usual aggressive play. He chose to adopt a solid and positional strategy with the King's Indian defense to beat the time-hobbled Esteban Jacome of Ecuador in 50 moves.
Lopez downed Montenegro in 39 moves of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, while Bernardo needed just 33 to demolish Moulin in Sevi-Slav Botvinnik Variation.
“If we beat Camarines and Toledo we might have a chance. But we need a perfect four points to do that and at least, duplicate our quarterfinals stint in the 2nd Conference,” Urbiztondo told Gold Star Daily.
The Silay City, Negros Occidental pride Severino, who bagged the 2020 International Physically Disabled Chess Championship, and the Danao, Cebu City stalwart Rom both relied on their deep understanding with the French defense in besting Nowak and McConnell in 54 and 60 moves, respectively.
Handling black, Bernardo countered e4 of Malaysia’s Pin Xie Loo with the solid as stolid Carrokan defense. But few moves later, Bernardo unveiled his real intention of turning the positional opening into a wild complicated battle of wits and nerves.
“My opponent is really strong with sharp moves that need a keen eye for careful analysis. He has a dangerous pawn on d7 that i managed to counter-attack. It was really a wild and wooly game,” Lopez said.
“We’ll still play (today) and the rest of our remaining games. And we’ll just take them as pure enjoyment knowing that our chance is bleak. We’re still happy at the fact that we’re able to score an upset against world champion Severino and his Paralympic team that took the Southern division lead early of the PCAP’s second-round hostilities,” Urbiztondo said.
Just recently, no less than San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president Ramon Ang had personally handed an additional incentives to Paalam and fellow boxing medalists Nesthy Petecio from Davao and Eumir Marcial from Zamboanga.
This is just the first time that the core of the bemedalled Philippine Paralympic team will compete in the Fide-sanctioned world championship organized by Dresdner Schachfestival e.V. until November 14.