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PH men’s chess team loses to Iran in Asian online tourney

By Pigeon Lobien

October 17, 2020, 1:38 pm

BAGUIO CITY – Team Philippines lost to third-ranked Iran, 1.5-2.5, and fell to tie at the second spot after four rounds in the Asian Nations Online Chess Cup 2020 on Friday.

Grandmaster (GM) Mark Paragua suffered a setback against Parham Maghsoodloo at the top board, while John Paul Gomez fell to Aryan Gholami at the last board, even as the young International Master Paulo Bersamina saved the day for the Filipinos with a win against GM Ehsan Maghami, the highest-rated Iranian player.

Bersamina, rated 2286, whipped a storm to stop the Iranian GM, whose Elo rating is 2566, to give the Filipinos the fight-back.

The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games, such as chess.

The Filipinos were at sole first after three rounds following a sweep against Palestine 4-0, and Syria in rounds one and two, then beat Thailand 3-1 in the third round for 11 big points.

Iran moved alongside the Philippines but at the second position due to the win.

Kazakhstan moved to the top spot with a 2.5-1.5 win over Mongolia.

Four teams occupy the fourth to seventh spots with 12 points – Australia, Mongolia, Indonesia, and top-ranked India.

Sri Lanka occupies the sole eighth with 10.5, half a point off Singapore.

The female Kazakhs lead on the women’s side, followed by Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, and the Philippines. (PNA)

 

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