CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo City Trojans split their two scheduled matches last Wednesday, February 23 to drop from fourth to sixth in the southern division standings of the ongoing All-Filipino Conference of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP).
The Trojans failed to upset the heavily-favored and former PCAP champions Laguna Heroes in their first match, 7.5-13.5.
However, they bounced back strong by crushing PCAP newcomer Isabela Knights of Alexander in their second game, 14.5-6.5.
Laguna was simply too much for the Trojans as the Heroes beat them in both the blitz and rapid rounds.
Laguna scored 5.5 over Toledo’s 1.5 points in the blitz round and toppled the Cebuanos, 8-6 in the rapid event to claim the overall victory.
From fourth place in the southern standings, the Trojans dropped two places at sixth with an 11-8 (win-loss) record while Laguna remained in third place in the northern division standings with a 15-4 (win-loss) card.
In their game against Isabela, both teams finished the blitz round with a draw with 3.5 points apiece. But the Trojans dominated the rapid round by winning five matches against Isabela.
Rommel Ganzon, National Master (NM) Merben Roque, Jinky Catulay, Ronald Ganzon, and Bonn Rainauld Tibod won their matches against NM Gerardo Cabellon, International Master (IM) Joel Banawa, Diana Ramos, Arena Grand Master (AGM) Melchor Foronda III, and Servillano Obana, respectively.
IM Rico Mascariñas of Toledo and Isabela’s NM Edmundo Gatos had a draw in the same round while Anwar Cabugatan beat NM Rogelio Enriquez to prevent Isabela from a shutout.
On the other hand, the Cebu City Wizards, formerly RCM Cebu remained in 10th place of the southern division standings with a 4-15 (win-loss) record after losing both matches on Wednesday.
They lost to the northern division’s top-ranked team, Pasig City King Pirates, 4-17, and to the Olongapo Rainbow Team 7, 4-17.
Iloilo Kisela Knights remained on top of the southern division rankings with an 18-1 (win-loss) record followed by Davao Chess Eagles (14-5), and Negros Kingsmen (12-7).
The Zamboanga Sultans and the Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates climbed one place higher in the standings, overtaking Toledo and Camarines in the process. The Sultans (12-7) are now ranked fourth while the Checkmates (12-7) trail them at fifth place.
Although Negros, Zamboanga, and Surigao have the same win-loss record, they were ranked according to their accumulated points. /rcg
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