by Marlon Bernardino.
MANILA, Philippines—Unheralded Arena Grandmaster Voltaire Marc Paraguya (photo above) held Olympiad veteran GM Darwin Laylo to a draw to help lift the Cavite Spartans to an 11-10 win over the Pasig Kings Pirates in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines’ (PCAP) online tournament dubbed as Grandmaster Wesley So Cup Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Paraguya and Laylo agreed a draw after 30 moves of Queen’s Pawn Opening, Mikenas Defense in their Rapid Game encounter.
“The Cavite Spartans pulled off a win over the highly rated Pasig City King Pirates. The Spartans’ come from behind victory was simply phenomenal as they played without any GM in their team but managed to score 11-10 over King Pirates with 3 GMs as their top board players. Kudos to the Cavite Spartans.” said Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Theo Panga, staunch supporter of Cavite Spartans together with Rep. Jon-Jon Ferrer, Mayor Ony Ferrer of General Trias City, Cavite, coach Ederwin Estavillo and assistant coach Israel Landicho.
Winners for Cavite were Melizah Ruth Carreon, International Master Petronio Roca, Jayson San Jose Visca and Renie Malupa.
Carreon routed Woman FIDE Master Sherily Cua on board 3, Roca trounced National Master Master Rudy Ibanez on board 4, Visca crushed Carl Espallardo on board 6 while Malupa outplayed Jaymarc Gutierrez on board 7.
Filipino GM Roland Salvador and Singaporean GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming led the Pasig side. Salvador beat Singaporean Arena International Master Wagish Kumar Rai on board 1 while Goh Wei Ming edged Lourecel Hernandez Ecot on board 2.
Cavite defeated Pasig, 9-5 in Rapid portion. Earlier, Pasig beat Cavite, 5-2, in blitz side.
Pasig blitz portion winners were IM Eric Labog Jr., Goh Wei Ming, Cua, Ibanez and Laylo against Rai, Ecot, Carreon, Roca and Paraguya.
Visca and Malupa, the two survivors of Cavite, on the other hand, won over Cromwell Sabado and Gutierrez, respectively.
The Cavite Spartans will face Manila Indios Bravos and Isabela Knight Raiders on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Manila bested inaugural winner Laguna Heroes, 2-1, in the Armageddon tiebreak while Isabela waylaid Olongapo Rainbow Team 7, 11-7