Board 1 player Julius Gonzales leads UST to its first UAAP men’s chess crown in 10 years. UAAP photo
UST, NU share limelight in UAAP chess
UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas ended a 10-year championship drought in the men’s division, while National University annexed its first-ever women’s crown at the end of the UAAP chess tournament Wednesday at the FEU Engineering Building Auditorium.
The Growling Tigers clinched their eighth championship overall with 28 points, as coach Ronald Dableo was delighted to see his program make it back on top behind Julius Gonzales, Melito Ocsan Jr., Brylle Gever Vinluan, Lee Roi Palma and Antonio Almodal III.
“Ako kasi I can say na talagang high caliber yung mga players natin,” Dableo said after UST topped La Salle, 2.5-1.5 in the final round. “Malaking factor na yung mga players natin mga beterano na talaga yan mula high school, nag-e-MVP, nag-go-gold medalist. Tuluy-tuloy yun siyempre.”
University of the Philippines ended in second with 26 points after a 3.5-0.5 win over Adamson while Far Eastern University clobbered Ateneo, 3.5-0.5, to complete the podium with 25 points.
FM Jeth Romy Morado, who powered the Tamaraws to a 2019 crown, edged out Fighting Maroons rookie Jan Daryl Batula in the tiebreaker armageddon match to bag the tournament MVP award and the Board 1 gold.
Batula, though, took home the Rookie of the Year honors.
The Lady Bulldogs, with Rookie-MVP Allanney Doroy dominant all season-long, were still able to claim the title despite a 1.5-2.5, loss to La Salle in the final day to finish the tournament with 26.5 points.
NU logged seven wins, one draw, and one loss after both eliminations and the Final Four round.
“Siyempre, sobrang saya po and overwhelming kasi two years din po kaming napahinga,” said WFM Doroy, who went perfect in six matches to capture the Board 2 gold.
The Lady Bulldogs form the core of the NU-Nazareth high school girls team which won the title in 2019.
“Uhaw na uhaw po kami sa championship trophy din po talaga,” said Doroy.
La Salle tallied 21 points to settle for second place, while Adamson prevailed over Ateneo in the tiebreak to finish third with 15.5 points and nine match points.
The Blue Eagles missed the podium as they only had six match points.
