By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Negros Island Region (NIR) Kingsmen extended their winning run to 10 games following a two-game sweep in the 2023 Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) First Conference over the weekend.

The Kingsmen opened the evening with a 20.5-0.5 victory over Cebu Niños before they followed it up with a 15.5-5.5 triumph over Mindoro Tamaraws to stay on top of the Southern Division standings with a 20-1 record.

Against the Niños, the Kingsmen scored a 6.5-0.5 victory in the blitz event with full points by David Elorta, Joel Pimentel, Bernadette Galas, Rogelio Antonio Jr., Ellan Asuela, and Rolzon Roullo, and a split by Edsel Montoya.

The Negrenses had a shutout 14-0 victory over the Cebuanos in the rapid game with Elorta, Pimentel, Galas, Antonio, Asuela, Montoya, and Roullo taking the full two points each.

The Kingsmen also prevailed over the Tamaraws, 5.5-1.5, in the blitz game with Elorta, Galas, Antonio, Pimentel, and Xavier Verdun notching the full points, and Mari Joseph Turquiza splitting with his opponent.

The Negrenses also prevailed over Mindoro in the rapid game, 10-4, behind a full two points apiece from Elorta, Galas, Pimentel, and Verdun, and one point each from Turquiza and Antonio.

“It was the team’s second 10-game winning streak this conference and hopefully we can extend this,” Kingsmen co-team owner Antonio Olendo said.

“The team just has to prepare [for] each game,” he added.

On the other hand, the Iloilo Kisela Knights still do not have luck on their side as they suffered two more defeats over the weekend to drop to 11-10 in the Southern Division standings.

The all-Ilonggo Kisela Knights first suffered a 13-8 defeat at the hands of the Tamaraws, followed by a 16.5-4.5 loss to the Davao squad.

“Tough break for us,” Kisela Knights head coach Hubert Canto said.

“We were actually undermanned in these two matches as some of our players were unavailable. We just have to bounce back from this,” he added./ASC, WDJ