By Adrian Stewart Co

Negros Kingsmen and Iloilo Kisela Knights split their scheduled matches in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) San Miguel Corporation-Ayala Land Cup the other night.

The Kingsmen kicked off their double-header games with a 15.5-5.5 defeat at the hands of Caloocan Loadmanna Knights before bouncing back with a 12-9 victory over Isabela in the second game.

Negros went to work against Isabela in blitz game with victories by Mari Turquiza (Board 1), Nelson Mariano (Board 2), Adrian dela Cruz (Board 5), and Theseus Benitez Jr. (Board 6).

The Kingsmen also dominated Isabela in rapid game behind victories by Turquiza, Mariano and Dela Cruz and draws by Benitez and Rolzon Roullo (Board 7).

Kingsmen playing team manager Junaico Segismar admitted it was a struggle for the Negrenses against a tough Caloocan team, which is led by Grand Master Paulo Bersamina.

“We had a tough night but we managed to breakeven with a win and a loss. Hopefully we can find a momentum in our next matches,” Segismar said in a statement.

Kisela Knights, for its part, also split their matches as they won their opening game against Isabela, 11-10, before suffering a close 11-10 loss to Manila.

Against Isabela, Iloilo scored a 5-2 triumph in the blitz game behind wins by Cherry Ann Mejia (Board 3), Cesar Mariano (Board 4), Fritz Porras (Board 5), and John Silvederio (Board 6) and draws by Rogelio Antonio (Board 1) and Giovanni Mejia (Board 2).

The Kisela Knights, however, fumbled in the rapid event, 6-8, with only Cherry Ann Mejia and Silvederio scoring wins, while Antonio and Porras settled for draws.

Both the Kingsmen and the Kisela Knights were at the upper part of the Southern Division standings with 6-3 win-loss record./ASC, WDJ