By Adrian Stewart Co
Negros Kingsmen and Iloilo Kisela Knights cruised to easy victories in the first conference of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) on Wednesday evening.
The Kingsmen remained on top in the Southern Division with 20-3 win-loss slate following a 17-4 victory over Iriga City Oragons and 18.5-2.5 whipping of Mindoro Tamaraws.
Facing the City Oragons, the Kingsmen had a 5-2 victory in blitz game with victories by FIDE Master (FM) Nelson Mariano, FM Randy Segarra, Arena Grandmaster (AGM) Kajoy Acedo, International Master (IM) Joel Pimentel, and FM Rolzon Roullo.
Negros also won over Iriga in the rapid event, 12-2, with Segarra, Acedo, Pimentel, Roullo, and Adrian Dela Cruz and draws from FM Rosendo Bandal and Mariano.
Against the Tamaraws, the Kingsmen also had an easy win in blitz, 6.5-.5, with triumphs from Segarra, Acedo, Bandal, Pimentel, Roullo, and Junaico Segismar and draw by Mariano.
The Negrenses also walloped Mindoro in rapid event, 12-2, with victories by Segarra, Acedo, Pimentel, Roullo and Segismar and draws by Mariano and Bandal.
“It is a great start of the second round of matches,” said Bandal. ‘We are just glad we won both matches. But we have to focus on the upcoming matches. Greater challenges are still ahead. We hope to maintain our standing as one of the top teams in PCAP.”
The Kisela Knights, meanwhile, opened the evening with an 18-3 victory over Palawan Queen’s Gambit before following it up with a 14-7 triumph over the Toledo City Trojans for a 21-4 slate in Southern Division.
Against Palawan, Iloilo had a 6-1 victory in the blitz event with triumphs by Grand Master (GM) Joey Antonio Jr., Cherry Ann Mejia, Cesar Mariano, Fritz Bryan Porras, Mark Jossel Mariano, and Lloyd Lanciola.
The Kisela Knights also had an easy win over Queen’s Gambit, 12-1, in rapid event with victories from Antonio, National Master (NM) Giovanni Mejia, Cherry Ann Mejia, Mariano, Dennis Bernas, and Lanciola.
Against Toledo, Iloilo eked out a close 4-3 victory over Toledo in the blitz event with wins from Antonio, Karl Viktor Ochoa and Cherry Ann Mejia and draws from Bernas and Silvederio.
In the rapid event, the Kisela Knights also dominated the City Trojans, 10-4, with victories from Antonio, Cherry Ann Mejia, Porras, Bernas and Silvederio./ASC, WDJ