Iloilo racks third straight win in PCAP season-ending tournament

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Iloilo Kisela Knights haven’t skipped a beat as they recorded their third straight win in the new season of the 2021 Professional Chess Association of the Philippines San Miguel Corporation-Ayala Land Premier Association Cup.

After their dominating first win against the Palawan Queen’s Gambit, 18-3, the Kisela Knights were back in action Saturday night and grabbed victories against the Surigao Fianchetoo Checkmates and the Toledo City Trojans.

The Kisela Knights replicated their performance against Palawan in their game against Surigao where they also ended up with an 18-3 final score.

After dropping two of the first seven playing boards, Iloilo then rolled and swept the next seven to dominate both the Blitz and the Rapid category.

GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., Karl Viktor Ochoa, NM Cesar Mariano, and Fritz Bryan Porras led the Kisela Knights’ attack and displayed their exquisite offensive schemes.

Meanwhile, it was a thrilling match against Toledo as Iloilo escaped with a narrow 11-10 win that capped off their sweeping victory.

It was a tightly-contested battle as Iloilo only led by one, 4-3, after the Blitz category that proved to be their only edge of the clash as they ended up in a 7-all deadlock at the end of the Rapid category.

Iloilo currently leads the Southern division together with rival squad Negros Kingsmen with an identical 3-0 win-loss record.