THE Philippines finally made its presence felt in the women’s division with an upset 2.5-1.5 victory over No. 26 Slovenia in the 44th FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.

WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda stood at the helm of the Filipinas’ impressive triumph that enabled them to barge into the top 20 with 11 match points with still three rounds left.

Frayna pulled the rug from under IM Laura Unuk on the first board, while Fronda toppled WIM Zala Urh on the second board to deliver two inspiring victories for the 39th-seeded Filipinas of GM Jayson Gonzales.

WIM Kylen Joy Mordido halved the point with WIM Teja Vidic on the fourth board.

The lone casualty for the Filipinas was WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego, who lost to WIM Lara Janzelj on the third board.

With the win, the Filipinas.climbed back into a 10-team tie at 17th place with 11 match points on five wins, one draw and two losses.

The Filipinas, however, will get another major test against No 12 Hungary, which fell in upset to No. 28 Monfolia, 1.5-2.5.

The men’s team was not as fortunate.

GM Rogelio Barcenilla, Jr. lost to GM Nikolaos Theodorou on second board as the Filipinos dropped a 1.5-2.5 deicison to No. 25 Greece.

GMs Mark Paragua and John Paul Gomez and IM Paulo Bersamina kept the score close by drawing their games on boards one, three and four, respectively.

The setback sent the 52nd-seeded Filipinos crashing into a 23-nation logjam at 35th place with 10 points on four wins, two draws and two losses.

The road gets even tougher as they battle No. 24 Georgia in the ninth round.

A record 188 countries in the men’s division and 162 nations in the women’s section are seeing action in the tournament, which is being held in India for the first time.

The campaign of the 12-man Filipino delegation in the 11-round, 12-day competition is sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) thru the National Chess Federation of the Philippnes (NCFP).

Standings after eight rounds:

Men

15 points –Armenia
14 — India-2, Uzbekistan
13 — Netherlands,Iran, Azerbaijan
12 — India-1,Turkey, USA, Germany, Greece, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Serbia, Lithuania,Peru
11 — France, Czech Republic, Spain, Ukraine, England, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Israel, Denmark, Cuba, Ireland, Argentina, Moldova, Slovenia, Australia, Andorra, Chile
10 — Philippines and 22 others

Women

15 points — India-1
14– Georgia
13 — Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Mongolia
12 –Azerbaijan, Armenia, Spain, Romania, Germany, Indonesia, Sweden, Netherlands, England
11 — Philippines and 10 others