By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The Negros Island Region Kingsmen made their way to the Southern Division Finals of the 2023 Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) First Conference after beating Iloilo Kisela Knights in the division semifinals on Saturday night, April 22.
The Kingsmen showed dominance in the first leg of the two-leg Southern Division semifinals with a 14-7 victory. The Negrenses followed this up with a 12-9 beating in the second leg.
They opened the first leg with a 5-2 win in the blitz event behind full points by Mari Joseph Turquiza (Board 2), Bernadette Galas (Board 3), Rogelio Antonio Jr. (Board 4), and Joel Pimentel (Board 7), and split by David Elorta (Board 1) and Ellan Asuela (Board 6).
However, the Kingsmen barely escaped the Kisela Knights in the rapid category, 9-5, with only Turquiza, Galas, Antonio, and Pimentel garnering the full two points and Elorta splitting with his foe.
The Kingsmen also edged the Kisela Knights, 5-2, in the blitz event of the second leg, with Elorta, Turquiza, Antonio and Pimentel getting one point each, while Galas and Asuela settled for 0.5.
The Negrenses struggled in the second leg rapid game as they were held to a 7-7 draw by the Kisela Knights, with Galas, Antonio and Pimentel finishing with full two points each and Turquiza settling for a draw.
According to Kingsmen co-team manager Nayk Segismar, the victory over Ilonggos was huge for the franchise as they hope to move past Davao Golden Eagles in the division finals on Wednesday, April 26.
“This is a huge achievement for us even if this is the second time that we beat Iloilo in the playoffs,” Segismar said.
“We always anticipate a close and competitive game when we face the Ilonggos,” he added.
For his part, Kisela Knights head coach Hubert Canto said that the defeat was a lesson learned for the all-Ilonggo player squad and they will use this to further improve in the second conference.
“As I said before, Negros has a competitive team, so this is not suprising,” Canto said.
“But this is an eye-opener for us this offseason to continue to improve with our all-Ilonggo roster,” he said./ASC, WDJ