CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo City Trojans will try to tighten their grip on the No. 5 spot in the Southern Division standings with two scheduled matches on Saturday, March 19 in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All-Filipino Conference.
The Trojans who already secured a playoffs berth will try to maintain their position by taking on the Palawan Queen’s Gambit in the first match and the Iriga City Oragons in the second.
Currently, Toledo is in a three-way tie with Camarines Soaring Eagles and Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates with their identical 18-13 win-loss records.
Of the three, Toledo is ranked higher based on their total points of 352.5 with Camarines trailing them at No. 6 with 347 points, and Surigao at No. 7 with 335 points.
If Toledo beats both Iriga and Palawan tomorrow, they won’t just cement their hold on the No. 5 spot, but could possibly climb to fourth place which is currently occupied by Negros Kingsmen which has a 20-11 (win-loss) record.
As usual, Toledo City will rely on its top woodpushers International Master (IM) Rico Mascariñas, National Masters (NMs) Merben Roque and Rogelio Enriquez Jr., Richard Natividad, Bonn Rainauld Tibod, Jinky Catulay, Ronald and Rommel Ganzon.
Only three matches remain in the elimination round. Two will be played tomorrow while the last one is on March 23.
Meanwhile, Cebu City which is going to likely miss the playoffs will finish their remaining matches tomorrow to cap off their campaign this conference.
They will face top-ranked Iloilo Kisela Knights in the first match and the No. 8 team, Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental Chess Association in the second match.
Iloilo (27-4) is the top seed going to the playoffs in the southern division, while Davao Chess Eagles (24-7) is at second and Zamboanga Sultans (23-8) at third. /rcg
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