CEBU CITY, Philippines—The northern and southern division finals of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All-Filipino Conference will be held Wednesday, April 6, 2022.
The top-seed Iloilo Kisela Knights and the second seed Davao Chess Eagles are vying for supremacy in the southern division finals while the top-seed Pasig City King Pirates takes on former champions and second seed San Juan Predators in the northern finals.
Last Saturday, April 2, 2022, Cebu’s last remaining team, the Toledo City Trojans, who were the sixth seed, bowed out of the tournament after losing to the Chess Eagles in the semifinals, while the Kisela Knights eliminated third seed Negros Kingsmen in the other semis showdown.
READ: Trojans booted out
For Wednesday’s much-anticipated southern division finals showdown, Iloilo will bank on its ace woodpusher, Grand Master (GM) Rogelio Antonio Jr., who is also the top-performing individual player in the tournament.
GM Antonio Jr. leads the top 25 players in this tournament by tallying 51 wins against three losses and 14 draws.
He will be joined by Rolly Parondo Jr., who is No. 9 on the top 25 players list, and Karl Viktor Ochoa, who is ranked 24th on the list.
The rest of the Kisela Knights are Women’s FIDE Master (WFM) Cherry Ann Mejia, National Master (NM) Cesar Mariano, NM Fritz Bryan Porras, and NM John Michael Silvederio.
Davao will field in its four NMs in Alexander Lupian, Jonathan Tan, Aglipay Oberio, and Henry Roger Lopez along with FM Sander Severino, FM Roel Abelgas, and Arena Grand Master Rowelyn Joy Acedo.
NM Tan is ranked fifth in the top 25 players list.
Meanwhile, Pasig City will be headed by its two grandmasters in Mark Paragua and Darwin Laylo. Paragua is ranked No. 3 in the top 25 players list.
The rest of the King Pirates are Sherly Cua, IM Cris Ramayrat, Eric Labog Jr., Kevin ARquero, and Jerome Villanueva.
On the other hand, San Juan will be manned by GM Oliver Barbosa, IM Rolando Note, WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda, IM Ricardo de Guzman, FM Narquinden Reyes, Narciso Gumila, and Narquingel Reyes.
/bmjo