WIN some, lose some for Team Philippines.

The Philippines brought down Nicaragua, 2.5-1.5, for its second straight win in the women’s division in the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India late Saturday.

In the men’s division, the 52nd-seed Philippines struggled in a 1-3 defeat to sixth seed Azerbaijan.

WGM Janelle Mae Frayna and WFM Shania Mae Mendoza outduelled their respective opponents on boards one and three, while WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda settled for a draw to complete the victory for the 39th -seeded Filipinas.

Frayna , the country’s highest-rated female player with an ELO of 2224, humbled Maria Esther Granados Diaz while Mendoza crushed and Patricia Alvarez Gutierrez for the Filipinas’ two victories.

Fronda halved the point with Michelle Ferrifino on board two.

WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego suffered the Filipinas’ one setback at the hands of Maria Jose Granados Ortiz on board four.

The triumph was a fitting follow-up to the Filipinas’ 4-0 victory over No. 119 seed Guam.

They join the top five seeds — No. 1 India, No. 2 Ukraine, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Poland and No. 5 France — in the early lead in the two-week long tournament being held in India for the first time.

Up next for the GM Jayson Gonzales-coached Filipinas is No. 18 Serbia,which outclassed Sri Lanka, 4-0, and Chile, 3.5-.5, in the first two rounds.

It was a different story in the men’s section.

United States-based GM Mark Paragua and GM John Paul Gomez battled higher-rated GMs Rauf Mamedov and Vasif Durarbayli to fighting draws on boards one and three to save the day for the Filipinos.

GM Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. fell to GM Gadir Guseinov and on board two, while IM Paulo Bersamina, yielded to GM Nijat Abasov on board four.

With the loss, the GM Eugene Torre-mentored Filipinos dropped in a heavy 65-nation logjam at No. 48 with two match points.

The Filipinos, however, hope to recover lost ground when they take on lowly Cyprus in the third round.

The Filipinos’ campaign in the prestigious over-the-board competition is supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Meanwhile, men’s top seed United States settled for a 2.5-1.5 win over No. 47 Paraguay with GMs Febiano Caruana and Wesley So being held to a draw by GM Axel Bachmann and GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez on boards one and two, respectively; and women’s top seed India overwhelmed No. 4 Argentina, 3.5-.5 with GM Humpy Koneru at the forefront of the attack.

In other notable results, India clobbered Moldova, 3.5-.5; Norway blasted Uruguay, 4-0; Spain overwhelmed Belgium, 3.5-.5; Poland downed Colombia, 3-1; Netherlands edged Portugal, 2.5-1.5; Ukraine swept Albania, 4-0-;

Germany crushed Finland, 3-1; and England outclassed Singapore, 3-1, in the men’s section.

The Philippines’ Southeast Asian rival, Indonesia, bested New Zealand, 3-1.

Other women’s division frontrunners are Ukraine, which downed Turkey, 3-1; Georgia, which survived Lithuania, 2.5-1.5; Poland, which outplayed Croatia, 3.5-.5; France, which blanked Egypt, 4-0; Azerbaijan, which swept Finland, 4-0; and United States, which crushed Uzbekistan, 3-1.