Photo: Toledo Xignex Trojans page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo Xignex Trojans put on a valiant effort despite falling short in their bid to win their first Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) title.
The Trojans bowed down to the Manila Load Manna Knights in their much-awaited PCAP All-Filipino Conference grand finals showdown on Saturday evening, May 25, in back-to-back sets 10-11, 7-14.
Nonetheless, the Trojans remained the best team in the south division and overall first runners-up or second place for two consecutive conferences.
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In the first set, the Trojans put up a good fight but ultimately lost after the Load Manna Knights won the blitz round, 5-2, while the former won the rapid round, 8-6.
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Diego Abraham Capariño, who served as Toledo’s board one player, won both matches in the first set against International Master (IM) Paulo Bersamina.
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In the rapid round, IM Angelo Young, National Master (NM), and IM Joel Pimentel won their matches against Ryan Dungca and Daryl Samantilla, respectively, but those weren’t enough to win the first set.
In the second set, the Load Manna Knights dominated the Trojans by winning both the blitz and rapid rounds. The Load Manna Knights won the blitz round, 5-2, and went on to grab the rapid round victory, 9-5.
IM Bersamina, Chito Garma, and Samantilla won their blitz and rapid matches against Capariño, IM Young, and IM Kim Steven Yap, to lead Manila in winning the second set and ultimately the PCAP title.
Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Cherry Ann Mejia and IM Pimentel were the only winning woodpushers for Toledo in the rapid round after they beat Shania Mae Mendoza and Jan Emmanuel Garcia, respectively.