MANILA – Woman Fide Master (WFM) Shania Mae Mendoza and Woman International Master Bernadette Galas completed the women’s team for the 44th World Chess Olympiad after topping the final selection tournament at the Pace along Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City Thursday.
They finished the double round-robin qualifying with identical 6.5 points on three wins and seven draws.
WFM Cherry Ann Mejia placed third with five points, WFM Allaney Jia Doroy fourth with 4.5 points, WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego fifth with 4.5 points, and WIM Kylen Joy Mordido sixth with three points.
Mendoza and Galas will join Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna, WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda and reigning national champion WFM Ruelle Canino in the squad scheduled to compete from Sept. 10 to 23 in Budapest, Hungary.
It will be Mendoza’s fourth stint at the Chess Olympiad after seeing action in Baku, Azerbaijan (2016), Batumi, Georgia (2018) and Chennai, India last year.
The men’s team is composed of United States-based Julio Catalino Sadorra, current national men’s titlist IM Daniel Quizon, GM John Paul Gomez and IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Paolo Bersamina.
The coaches are GM Eugene Torre (men) and National Chess Federation of the Philippines chief executive officer GM Jayson Gonzales (women).
Sadorra will be making his fourth appearance after serving as top board player in Tromso, Norway (2014), Baku, Azerbaijan (2016) and Batumi, Georgia (2018).
He skipped the tournament in Chennai, India (2022) and the online editions in 2020 and 2021 due to his commitments with family, as well as with the University of Texas at Dallas where he is chess team coach. / PNA