Philippines Team 1 blanked the United States, 4-0, while PH Team 2 absorbed a painful 4-0 defeat at the hands of traditional powerhouse Russia 1 after two rounds of the 1st FIDE Online Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities on Sunday.
Checkmated in a 2-2 draw with Canada in the first round the day before, Sander Severino and Cheyzer Crystal Mendoza regained their old form and blew past Michael Aigner and Jessica Lauser on boards one and four.
Henry Lopez and Darry Bernardo continued their unbeaten streak by crushing Griffin Mcconnel and Pranav Shankar on the second and third boards to seal the blowout that catapulted the Filipinos to share of No. 15 with Russia 2 with three match points each.
PH Team 1 is playing the Russians in the third round at press time. A victory could propel the Filipinos to the Top 10.
Meanwhile, the PH Team 2 was sent crashing back to Earth after riding on a 4-0 win against Mongolia Saturday with Menandro Redor, Arman Subaste, Felix Aguilera and Cheryl Angot succumbing to Stanislav Babarykin, Andrei Obodchuk, Evgeniy Suslov and Marina Kaydanovich.
The setback sent PH Team 2 in a huge pack at No. 16 with two points as it currently tackles India Team 3 in the third round.