By Adrian Stewart Co 

Iloilo Kisela Knights and Negros Kingsmen swept their two matches on Saturday evening, October 9, at the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) San Miguel Corporation-Ayala Land Cup.

The Kisela Knights opened the night with an 18-3 domination over Davao before following it up with a 17.5-3.5 triumph over Bangkok for a 3-1 win-loss record in the standings.

Iloilo surged to a 7-0 win over Davao in blitz on victories by Rogelio Antonio Jr. (Board 1), Karl Victor Ochoa (Board 2), Cherry Ann Mejia (Board 3), Cesar Mariano (Board 4), Fritz Porras (Board 5), Mark Mariano (Board 6), and John Silvederio (Board 7).

The Kisela Knights also dominated Davao in rapid event, 11-3, with Antonio, Ochoa, Cesar Mariano, Porras, and Silvederio capturing two points each and Mejia settling for draw.

Against Bangkok, Iloilo showed its prowess in blitz event, 6.5-0.5, behind wins by Antonio, Mejia, Cesar Mariano, Porras, Mark Mariano, and Silvederio and a draw by Ochoa on the first board.

The Kisela Knights continued its rout on the Thais with an 11-3 beating in the rapid event on two pointers by Antonio, Mejia, Cesar Mariano, Porras, and Mariano and a draw by Ochoa.

The Kingsmen, on the other hand, eked out two closed matches against Pampanga, 12.5-8.5 and over Davao, 11-10, to improve its standings to 2-2 after the second day of the second round.

Negros bowed to Pampanga in blitz game but bounced back in the rapid event, 10-4, on wins by Randy Segarra (Board 1), Mari Turqueza (Board 2), Theseus Benitez Jr. (Board 5), Rolzon Roullo (Board 6), and Adrian dela Cruz (Board 7).

Against Davao, the Kingsmen also faltered in the blitz event, 4-3, before scoring an 8-6 win in rapid game behind victories by Angelyn Binan (Board 3), Benitez, Roullo and Dela Cruz.

“We won two hard-fought matches against Pampanga and Davao,” said Kingsmen team manager Junaico Segismar. “We were both down after the blitz but luckily we were able to bounce back in the rapids.”/ASC, WDJ