Filipino star Eugene Torre, playing his 23rd Olympiad

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— Baku Chess Olympiad (@bakuchessol2016) September 3, 2016

Grandmaster Eugene Torre saved the Philippines anew by securing a draw out of a losing position to help seal a 3.5-.5 win over Costa Rica that put the team in the Top 15 after four rounds in the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday night.

With IM Paulo Bersamina and GM John Paul Gomez claiming wins on Boards 4 and 1, respectively, the Filipinos appeared headed to a draw as Torre and GM Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. were facing difficult positions.

Torre, however, came through for the Philippines anew as he found a way to salvage a 64-move draw in a rook-and-pawn endgame against GM Bernal Gonzales Acosta in their Slav duel, despite falling a pawn down and in a cramped position the whole game.

Barcenilla, for his part, hung tough and clawed his way out of an inferior game by bringing down IM Leonardo Valdez Romero in 74 moves of a King's Indian attack.

Bersamina unleashed the Nimzo-Indian defense in hammering IM Alexis Murillo Tsijili in 43 moves, while Gomez destroyed IM Sergio Minero Pineda's French Defense in 44 moves.

Gomez was playing his second straight game on Board 1 after top player GM Julio Catalino Sadorra fell ill and was rushed to a local hospital three days ago.

"Eugene has been the team's life-saver," said GM Jayson Gonzales, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines executive director and one of the team's two captains.

The win catapulted the Filipinos to a big group that is tied at 14th spot with six match points, and they will have an opportunity to jump into the top 10 with a win over the lower-ranked South Africans in the fifth round.

The Philippines may stick with the same Gomez-Torre-Barcenilla-Bersamina roster as Sadorra – who has played just one game in the second round – remains doubtful.

The Filipinos are just one point behind their former teammate GM Wesley So and his United States squad, who were held to a 2-2 deadlock by the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, the Filipinas blew a chance for a victory as Jan Jodilyn Fronda failed to cash in on her material advantage and lost miserably to WIM Yuan Yuanling on Board 2 that handed the Canadians a 2-2 result.

Rookie Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza made a good impression in her first-ever game on the Olympiad stage as she smashed World Candidate Master Maili-Jade Ouellet on Board 4, while WIMs Janelle Mae Frayna and Catherine Secopito split the point with FM Zhou Qiyu and Lali Agbabishvili on Boards 1 and 3, respectively.

The Philippine women's team fell out of the top 20 and into the top 30 with five points. They will tackle a weaker Algeria team next.

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