Bad internet connection ends Toledo City’s run in PCAP online chess tourney

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Bad internet connection resulted to the elimination of Cebu’s only remaining team, the Toledo City Trojans, in the semifinals of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) online chess tournament.

The fifth-seeded Trojans, who were eyeing an upset against the South division’s top-seeded Iloilo City Kisela Knights, bowed out of the prestigious professional wood pushing tournament after losing last Saturday, March 27, 2021.

Bad internet connection doomed the team’s chances, according to the team manager, FIDE Arbiter (FA) Felix Poloyapoy Jr.

Poloyapoy said one of their ace woodpusher, Richard Natividad, who played in a crucial Armageddon tie-breaker match, got disconnected in the middle of the game, causing their downfall.

“First set sa Armageddon, nakadaog pa si Richard (Natividad). Nikalit man siya ug ka drop out sa iyang match kay na disconnected iyang internet. Wala na siya naka move pa ug balik,” said Poloyapoy.

Read: Toledo Trojans make PCAP online chess semis

“Madaog unta to namo ang first set kung wala pa nag lag ug nag disconnect ang internet ni Natividad. Mao pud ang nahitabo sa Negros nga team, nagkaproblema sad sila sa internet,” he added.

Both the Trojans and Kisela Knights finished the first game with 10.5 points. The Trojans lost the set via Armageddon,1-2.

The blunders continued in the second match as the Trojans lost to the  Knights, 5.5-15.5,  bowing out of the tournament. 

“Nag lisud na mi ug maayo pag second set kay di gihapon mo cooperate ug tarong ang internet unya gamay ra ang time sa duwa. Dehado kaayo mi kay among kontra walay problema sa internet connection”.

Last week, a telco announced that it was having a submarine cable repair in Singapore, which affected internet traffic in some parts of the Philippines. The ongoing repair is expected to be done on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. 

The Trojans could have appealed to the tournament organizers if they knew about the underwater cable repairs ahead of time. Their semifinals match against IloIlo could have been rescheduled to another date, but they knew about the problem a bit too late. 

The organizers from PCAP rescheduled all matches last January to another date due to Tropical Cyclone Auring as a preventive measure when internet connection is lost.

“Wala mi naka inform sa PCAP nga naa diay problema sa internet diri sa Cebu ato nga time. Awahi na tanan. Ma reschedule unta to namo,” Poloyapoy stated. 

The Kisela Knights will be facing Camarines Soaring Eagles in the south division finals.

The Soaring Eagles won over Negros Kingsmen. 

The Laguna Heroes, meanwhile, beat the Manila Indios in two games to schedule the final round showdown against San Juan Predators, who beat Caloocan Knights in the north division. 

Despite the loss, Poloyapoy said their performance in the prestigious online chess tournament was unprecedented. 

“Thankful gihapon kaayo mi kay nakaabot mi ug semifinals. Nakita namo sa among pag apil aning tournament nga kaya pud namo magkig duwa sa mga pinaka maayo nga chess players sa Pilipinas,” added Poloyapoy. 

The local government unit (LGU) of Toledo City provided financial bonuses to the entire team comprised of International Master (IM) Rico Mascariñas, Glicerio Pardillo Jr., Jinky Catulay, Bonn Rainauld Tibod, Christopher Tubalado, Rommel Ganzon, Ronald Ganzon, Rogelio Enriquez Jr, Jean Jean Gacang, and Natividad.

The team will be gearing up for the second conference slated in May this year, billed as the “Wesley So Cup.”

/bmjo