Round 8 Round Up: Philippines Beat England 3-1 Chess Olympiad 2012

'Upset' might not be the proper word to describe this win. After all, with how Team Philippines (Open) has been performing so far -- in the last 8 rounds, without regard of their individual ELO ratings, they are acting like a powerhouse team in this Istanbul 2012 World Chess Olympiad.

In Board 1, Wesley So, even with black, held the 70-ELO-points higher Michael Adams of England to a draw.

In Board 2, England's Gawain Jones took as many as 101 moves before he resigned his position against Oliver Barbosa.

In Board 3, Nigel (Short) came short as Eugene (Torre) towered over him.

In Board 4, Mark Paragua managed a draw by threefold repetition.

The final tally, Philippines (3) vs. England (1) [take note of their ELO Ratings in parenthesis]:

Bo.	Philippines	Score	England
1	Wesley So (2652)	1/2-1/2	Michael Adams (2722)
2	Oliver Barbosa (2554)	1-0	Gawain Jones (2653)
3	Eugene Torre (2469)	1-0	Nigel Short (2698)
4	Mark Paragua (2508)	1/2-1/2	Nicholas Pert (2555)

You can replay the games from the following pages:

• Michael Adams vs. Wesley So


• Oliver Barbosa vs. Gawain Jones


• Nigel Short vs. Eugene Torre


• Mark Paragua vs. Nicholas Pert

Or download the PGN.

After Round 8, the Philippines is ranked 6th place, and will be up against the 6th seed China in the 9th round.

Round 7 Results: Philippines vs. Hungary -- Istanbul 2012 World Chess Olympiad

The veteran Eugene Torre saved the day for Team Philippines, as he managed to maneuver a win in Board 3 against the Hungarian Ferenc Berkes in Round 7 of Istanbul 2012 World Chess Olympiad, to even the score at 2-2.

The team's goal at the start of the tournament was to be just among the top 20 finishers amidst all the countries competing in this Olympiad, but it seems they underestimated themselves. All the players' performance so far are way above their level -- their ELO ratings.

The score card of the match between the 35th seed Philippines vs. the 4th seed Hungary follows:

Bo.	Philippines	Score	Hungary
1	Wesley So	1/2-1/2	Peter Leko
2	Oliver Barbosa	0-1	Zoltan Almasi
3	Eugene Torre	1-0	Ferenc Berkes
4	Mark Paragua	1/2-1/2	Csaba Balogh

You can replay the games from these pages:

• Wesley So vs. Peter Leko


• Zoltan Almasi vs. Oliver Barbosa


• Eugene Torre vs. Ferenc Berkes


• Csaba Balogh vs. Mark Paragua

Or download the (zipped) PGN file of the games.

Update: Philippines in Round 8

With the draw in Round 7 with Hungary, the ranking of Team Philippines slid down from No. 6 to No. 10. They will be facing the 11th seed England in Round 8.

Vladimir Kramnik's My Path to the Top

Chessbase releasing a video DVD about and with GM Vladimir Kramnik.



But seriously, has Kramnik really been to the top? #sarcasm!

Wesley So Draws with Liren Ding in Game 1 Round of World Chess Cup 2011

GM Wesley So playing white drew his first game against Liren Ding in Round 1 of World Chess Cup 2011.

[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignnone" width="446" caption="Wesley So vs. Liren Ding position after Black's 33rd move"][/caption]

Although the computer analysis particularly from Stockfish and Rybka indicated a slight advantage for white up to the 37th moves from each side, it was slight indeed and Wesley failed to materialize on.

Click here if you want to replay the game between GM Wesley So and GM Liren Ding.

Game 2 is slated for today at around 5PM Philippine time.

Garry Kasparov vs Magnus Carlsen - Reykjavik Rapid 2004

Just a little chess game analysis, watch this video from the Chess Network.