THE PHILIPPINES opened its campaign in the Chess Olympiad with a 4-0 drubbing of Libya in Istanbul, Turkey.
Grandmaster Wesley So played the top board against Abobker Elarbi, GM Oliver Barbosa defeated Ahmed Al-Zayat, GM Mark Paragua defeated Hussein Asabri and International Master Oliver Dimakiling won over Hassan Asabri.
The Filipinos next take on Moldova, which scored a 3.5-.5 win over Pakistan.
In the women's section, the Philippines also clinched maximum points against Pakistan.
Woman International Master Catherine Perena, Woman Fide Master Rulp Ylem Jose, Janelle Mae Frayna and Jedara Docena next face Slovenia, a team featuring two WGMs. Slovenia beat Uruguay 4-0.
Women's top three seeds China, Russia and Georgia also scored 4-0 victories.
Open division second seed Ukraine also scored a 4-0 win over Iraq and will next take on Qatar, which swept Palau.
Also scoring sweeps were the Gata Kamsky-led US team over Jordan and the Radjabov Teimour-led Azerbaijan over Luxembourg.
Top-seeded Russia was a half point behind after coming up with a 3.5-.5 win over the Dominican Republic.
Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin and Dmitry Jakovenko provided the wins for Russia while Dominican Fide Master William Puntier halved the point with Evgeny Tomashevsky on Board Three.
The Russians next face Greece, which also got maximum points against Barbados.
Third seed Armenia won 3-1 over Bolivia. Armenian top board player Sergei Movsesian bowed to Bolivian GM Osvaldo Zambrana but Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and Tigran Petrosian came up with wins on the lower boards.
Fourth seed Hungary also came up with a 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan, with Judit Polgar and Csaba Balogh pulling off wins on boards two and four, respectively, and the other matches ending in draws.
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