Naki Warriors end drought with 2 wins in PCAP Third Conference

CEBU CITY, Philippines– The Lapu-Lapu City Naki Warriors plugged their losing slide after scoring two victories on Wednesday in the ongoing Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Third Conference.

Before the twin victories, the Naki Warriors had lost four straight games. Wednesday’s wins put the Warriors back in contention. First, they beat guest team CCE Sunrays then the Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates in dominating fashions.

In the first match, the Naki Warriors trounced the Sunrays, 17.5-3.5 by sweeping both the blitz and rapid rounds.

In the blitz round, National Masters Michael Joseph Pagaran and Elwin Retanal edged Elija Josh Opriasa and Jian Carlo Rivera, respectively.

International Arbiter (IA) Lincoln Yap, Ariel Joseph Abellana, and Bryle Arellano also logged wins over Adrian Pacis, Joshua Mallari, and Jose Pio Caro respectively.

They finished the blitz round with, 5.5-1.5, tally.

In the rapid round, NM Retanal, NM Pagaran, IA Yap, Fide Master (FM) Anthony Makinano, Arellano, and Abellana won their matches to score, 12-2, against the Sunrays.

The Naki Warriors also swept both the blitz and rapid rounds against the Fianchetto Checkmates with scores of 4.5-2.5, in the blitz, and, 10-4, in the rapid round.

With the two victories, the Naki Warriors climbed from eighth to sixth place in the southern division standings with nine wins and eight losses.

They have an identical win-loss record with fellow Cebu-based team, the Toledo City Trojans who lost both their matches on Wednesday against the Philippine Paralympic chess team and the Iloilo Kisela Knights.   /rcg

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