MANILA – Negros Kingsmen and Iloilo Kisela Knights scored twin victories in the return of the online competition of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Third Conference on Wednesday night.
The Kingsmen snapped its two-game losing skid from the on-the-board match with a 17-4 victory over Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates and a 15.5-5.5 domination of Camarines-Iriga.
Against Surigao, the Kingsmen scored a 5-2 victory in blitz game courtesy of full point each by David Elorta (Board 1), Bernadette Galas (Board 3), Joel Pimentel (Board 5), Ellan Asuela (Board 6) and Edsel Montoya (Board 7).
The Negrenses also prevailed against the Fianchetto Checkmates in the rapid game, 12-2, on full two points by Elorta, Galas, Edmundo Gatus (Board 4), Pimentel and Montoya and splits by Bryle Arellano (Board 2) and Asuela.
Facing Camarines-Iriga, the Kingsmen scored a close 4.5-2.5 victory in the blitz event courtesy of full points each from Elorta, Arellano, Galas and Pimentel and a split point by Gatus.
The Kingsmen bounced back with a dominant rapid game, 11-3, where Elorta, Arellano, Galas, Gatus and Pimentel completed the two points each, while Asuela ended up splitting with his foe.
“It is a good bounce back win for us after struggling in our previous matches in Pasig,” said Kingsmen co-team manager Nayk Segismar. “Hopefully our winning run will go on until our next matches.”
Currently, the Kingsmen has 3-2 win-loss slate in the Southern Division standings pending the final outcome of their matches against the Kisela Knights and Davao on the board.
The Kisela Knights, on the other hand, also had a perfect evening following a 12-9 escape over Camarines-Iriga and 20.5-0.5 annihilation of Tacloban for a tentative 5-0 win-loss record.
“The players did not show any signs of rustiness despite the lengthy time from our last match,” said Kisela Knights head coach Hubert Canto. “We just want to keep the momentum heading into the next games.”/PN
