Iloilo advances to semifinals after man-handling Cordova in PCAP quarters

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

The Iloilo Kisela Knights began their quest for success in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) tournament with an impressive sweep of the Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors in the quarterfinals, 14-7 and 15.5-5.5.

Without skipping a beat, the Kisela Knights continued their dominant outing to extend their winning streak to 15.

Carrying the momentum they had during their previous back-to-back wins, Iloilo took the early lead in their first match, 4-3, in the Blitz category.

The lead suddenly ballooned after GM Joey Antonio Jr. and the rest of the Kisela Knights caught fire and started to embarrass Cordova in the Rapid category, 10-4.

Cordova started to change gears for the second match but it was not enough to hold off the surging Kisela Knights and replicated their game one performance to move up to the next stage of the PCAP tourney.

Lloyd Lanciola, NM John Michael Silvederio, Mark Jossel Mariano, Dennis Bernas, Fritz Bryan Porras, Cesar Mariano, Cherry Ann Mejia, and Karl Viktor Ochoa all racked up wins for Iloilo and are currently preparing for their next challenge.

The Kisela Knights will face the Toledo City Trojans in the semifinals who just escaped a tough series against the Zamboanga Sultans.