CEBU CITY, Philippines—The die has been cast for the south division finals of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Wesley So Cup Conference.
Cebu’s very own Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors will take on the Iloilo Kisela Knights in the finals of the country’s biggest online professional chess tournament after both scored wins last Saturday, July 24, 2021.
The finals is set for Wednesday, July 28.
The Dagami Warriors beat the eighth-seed Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates in the first round and trounced fourth-seed Negros Kingsmen in the semifinals.
The Kisela Knights, the third seed in the south division, meanwhile, eliminated the sixth seed Toledo City Trojans, in the first round, and upsets the second-seed Camarines Soaring Eagles in the semifinals.
The Dagami Warriors are gunning for redemption after they were eliminated by the Kisela Knights in the first round of the playoffs in the inaugural conference last March.
The Kisela Knights that time were the top seed while the Dagami Warriors were the bottom-seed among eight teams competing in the playoffs.
This edition will have a completely different scenario as Cordova found the missing piece to solve their winning problems in the inaugural conference.
They have the ever-reliable Israeli Grand Master (GM) Nitzan Steinberg, who consistently provides the team with much-needed wins in their previous matches.
Also, the Dagami Warriors’ roster is stacked with local bets in National Master (NM) Merben Roque, Women’s International Master (WIM) Bernadette Galas, Mario Mangubat, Bryle Arellano, Michael Pagaran, and Allan Pason.
The Kisela Knights will bank on their solid line-up headed by Armenian GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan, Karl Victor Ochoa, Women’s FIDE Master (WFM) Cherry Ann Mejia, NM Cesar Mariano, Fritz Bryan Porras, NM John Michael Silvederio, and Dennis Bernas.
The north division finals, meanwhile, features the inaugural conference champion Laguna Heroes taking on the San Juan Predators.
The winning teams in both south and north division finals will advance to the grand finals on Saturday, July 31, to determine the overall champion.
/bmjo