THE Philippines will not be going home empty-handed in chess for the second Southeast Asian Games edition.
Grandmaster Darwin Laylo and International Master (IM) Paulo Bersamina delivered the country’s first medal in the sport after snatching a silver medal in the men’s rapid team event. The Filipinos drew with the Vietnamese, 1-1, to claim the silver with 6.0 points, or half a point behind the latter, who eventually claimed the gold with 6.5 points. Indonesia wound up with a bronze with 5.5 points.
Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Janelle Mae Frayna and Marie Antoinette San Diego added a bronze by finishing with four points in the women’s rapid team.
Indonesia and Vietnam finished with identical six points, but the former edged out the latter with a better tie-breaker to grab the mint.
The day’s effort was enough to eclipse the medal-less performance by the country in the 2019 edition in Subic. IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia actually struck gold in the online event, but it was just a demo sport and did not officially count in the medal tally. — Joey Villar