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CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo-Xignex Trojans lost the southern division’s top spot after holding it for several weeks in the ongoing Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All-Filipino Conference.
It was after the Trojans lost to the northern division’s top-ranked San Juan Predators in their lone scheduled match last Saturday evening, April 27.
The Predators, the former PCAP overall champions, proved too much for the southern division’s best team. They scored 16.5-4.5 after their online chess duel.
READ: Toledo Trojans cement top spot position in PCAP All-Filipino Conference
Leading San Juan’s lopsided win over the Trojans was Grand Master (GM) Rogelio Barcenilla Jr., who won both the blitz and rapid rounds against International Master (IM) Angelo Young at board one.
Women’s International Master (WIM) Jan Jodilyn Fronda also had a field night after beating Women’s FIDE Master (WFM) Cherry Ann Mejia twice in their duel at board three.
READ: Toledo Trojans take on Tacloban and Negros in PCAP
Narquinden Reyes was the other top performer for the Predators after he edged IM Joel Pimentel twice in board six.
IM Rico Mascariñas and IM Pimentel won their matches in the blitz round after beating Ricardo De Guzman and Reyes, respectively.
READ: Toledo Trojans take on Dasma, Isabela in PCAP All-Filipino Conference
Meanwhile, the rest of the Trojans in National Master (NM) Merben Roque had a draw against Narciso Gumila in the rapid round.
The Predators now hold a record of 17 wins with one loss to keep the northern division’s solo lead. Besides beating Toledo, the Predators also outmatched Olongapo Rainbow Team 07, 21-0.
With the defeat. the Trojans moved down to second place with 12 wins and five defeats, as Camarines Soaring Eagles moved on top with their 14-4 (win-loss) card.
Camarines won both their scheduled matches against Rizal Batch Towers, 16.5-4.5, and against the Davao Chess Eagles, 15.5-5.5.