Toledo-Xignex Trojans team owners and players pose for a group photo. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo-Xignex Trojans wrapped up their memorable Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Wesley So Cup campaign as the overall first-runners-up.
This was after, the Trojans bowed down to the Pasig City King Pirates in the national finals on Saturday evening, December 9, 2023 through Chess.com platform.
Despite the defeat, the Trojans felt more accomplished than the newly-crowned champions after achieving numerous feats in the country’s biggest professional online chess tournament.
The Trojans became the first Cebu-based team that finished on top of the southern division standings. On top of that, they became the southern division standings after defeating former PCAP champions, the Iloilo Kisela Knights.
They also became the first Cebu-based team to compete in the national finals.
However, the King Pirates prevailed after winning both sets of their championship matches.
The King Pirates scored 13-8 in the first set and went on to score 12.5-8.5 points in the second set.
In the first set, the King Pirates won the blitz round, 1-6. But the Trojans showed some fight by finishing the rapid round with a 7-all draw, but wasn’t enough to win the first set.
In the second set, the King Pirates dominated the blitz round, 6.5-0.5, total score, but the Trojans won the rapid round, 8-6. Still, it wasn’t enough to win the second set.
The Trojans was manned by Grand Master (GM) Richard Bitoon, Women’s FIDE Master (WFM) Cherry Ann Mejia, National Master (NM) Edmundo Gatus, FIDE Master (FM) David Elorta, International Master (IM) Kim Steven Yap, Allan Pason, and Bonn Rainauld Tibod, during the national finals.
The rest of the team was comprised of IM Rico Mascarinas, Christopher Tubalado, and Ronald Ganzon.
The team is co-owned by Atty. Jeah Gacang and John Signe.
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