CEBU CITY, Philippines—After months of the gruelling campaign, only three of the four Cebu-based wood pushing teams made it to the much-awaited playoff round of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) online chess tournament.
The Toledo City Trojans, the Lapu-Lapu City Naki Warriors, and the Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors were the Cebu teams that made it to the playoff round, which is slated to start on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
The Trojans are the highest-ranked Cebu-based team in the south division rankings with 20 wins and 14 losses good for fifth place.
The Lapu-Lapu City Naki Warriors are at sixth place with a 15-19 (win-loss) card.
The Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors hang on to the eighth spot with a 12-22 (win-loss) record.
Meanwhile, the Cebu City Marchers failed to make it to the playoffs after settling for 10th place with a 9-25 win-loss record. Other eliminated teams in the south division were Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates, Palawan Queen’s Gambit, and Iriga City Oragons.
The much-awaited playoffs feature a crossover match-up between the top eight teams.
The Trojans will play against fourth seed Zamboanga Sultans. They will play for four games, two in blitz format and two in a rapid game format.
The Trojans are comprised of International Master (IM) Rico Mascariñas, Glicerio Pardillo Jr., Jinky Catulay, Bonn Rainauld Tibod, Christopher Tubalado, Rommel Ganzon, Ronald Ganzon, Rogelio Enriquez Jr, Jean Jean Gacang, and Richard Natividad.
According to their team manager, Fide Arbiter (FA) Felix Poloyapoy Jr., they seek redemption against the Sultans after they got beaten twice by this team in the elimination round.
The Naki Warriors will face third seed Negros Kingsmen in their playoffs bid. The Naki Warriors are composed of National Master (NM) Merben Roque, Bryle Arellano, Cristy Cabungcag, Odilon Badilles, Robeo Resuera, Neil Adrian Gilig, Aldwin Daculan, and Kraig Quinain.
The Dutchess Dagami Warriors will try to stage an upset as they face top-seeded Iloilo Kisela Knights. The Dutchess Dagami Warriors are made up of NM Edsel Montoya, Allan Pason, Women’s International Master (WIM) Bernadette Galas, NM Mario Mangubat, Rex Cabungcal, Francis Rivera, Ariel Potot, and Dione Patrick Miñoza.
/bmjo