Pasig

Pasig, Iloilo in GM Wesley So Cup final

August 7, 2022 Ed Andaya 476 views

THERE will be no fourth straight Iloilo Kisela Knights-San Juan Predators title showdown in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP).

Pasig Pirates, the newest and hottest team in the North, made sure about it.

Pasig brought down San Juan, 15-6 and 11.5-11.5 ( 2-1 in Armageddon) in their Northern Division final to arrange a title showdown against defending champion Iloilo for the coveted GM Wesley So Cup.

Iloilo defeated Negros Kingsmen, 11-10 and 12.5-8.5 to clinch the Southern Division crown and keep its title-retention campaign in this second of three conferences of the premier play-for-pay professional chess league alive.

Kevin Arquero and IM Eric Labog, Jr. delivered the all-important victories for Pasig when they upset GM Oliver Barbosa and FM Narquinden Reyes in the three-game playoffs to cap the Pirates’ swashbuckling performance against the league’s winningest team.

FM Nelson Mariano III averted a shutout for San Juan when he subdued GM Munkgal Gombosuren on board three.

The Pirates drew first blood when they overwhelmed the Predators, 15-6, in the first of the two-match final in the event sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, Ayala Land and PCWorx.

Gombosuren swept Barbosa and IM Rolando Nolte, 3-0, on board one; WIM Sherily Cua blanked Mary Segarra, 3-0, on board three; Arquero humbled Naciso Gumila, 3-0, on board five; and Jerome Villanueva and Labog downed Narquingel Reyes, 3-0, on board six for Pasig’s victories.

Barbosa bested IM Idel Datu; GM Victor Moskalenko and IM Ricardo de Guzman won over IM Cris Ramayrat and Narquingel Reyes outsteadied Jerome Villanueva to force a 10.5-10.5 standoff in the second match and the Armageddon encounter.

Both Pasig and San Juan missed key players in their North final duel — GM Mark Paragua and WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda. The two players are currently playing for the country in the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.

Iloilo, which is hoping to become the first team to repeat as champion, relied on GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. who swept NM Edmundo Gatus, 3-0, on board four; NM Rolly Parondo,Jr., who nipped Ellan Asuela, 2.5-.5, on board six ; and NM Cesar Mariano, who outclassed NM

Roizon Roullo and Ted Ian Montoyo, 3-0, on board seven to take the headstart.

David Elorta, GM Tran Tuan Minh, WIM Bernadette Galas and IM Joel Pimentel kept Negros’ bid alive by winning over their respective opponents in the first match.

Elorta surprised GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan, 2-1; Minh edged Karl Viktor Ochoa, 2-1; Galas bested WFM Cherry Ann Mejia, 2-01; and Pimentel outwitted Fritz Bryan Porras, 2-1, for the Kingsmen’s victories.

Antonio, Ochoa, Mejia and Horizon Villanueva, however, delivered anew in Iloilo’s slim victory over Negros in the second match.

Antonio whipped Gatus, 3-0; Ochoa outduelled Minh, 2-1; Mejia edged Galas, 2-1; and ViIlanueva downed Roullo, 2-0.

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