by Marlon Bernardino
MANILA, Philippines—The Laguna Heroes pulled a 12-9 escape over Penang, Malaysia in the third conference of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) virtually held at Chess.com Platform on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
Backed up by Greatech Philippines, Inc., SDC Global Choice, Jolly Smile Dental Clinic, KALARO and Rotary Club of Nuvali, Grandmaster Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr., FiDE Master Austin Jacob Literatus and Michella Concio delivered the victories for Laguna in the rapid competition by pulling off contrasting wins over Loo Xin Hao, NM Evan Timothy Capel and WCM Chua Jia-Tien.
Barcenilla outclassed Hao in 30 moves of an English Opening, Literatus beat Capel in 78 moves of a Polish Opening while Concio subdued Jia-Tien in 57 moves of a Sicilian defense.
Grandmaster John Paul Gomez drew with Poh Yu Tian in 54 moves of a Gruenfeld defense to hold Penang to a 7-7 stand-off in the rapid competition.
Eric Cheah, CM Tan Jun Ying and NM Tse Han carried the good fight for the Penang squad after beating FIDE Master Jose Efren Bagamasbad, Vince Angelo Medina and Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo.
Cheah trounced Bagamasbad in 34 moves of a French defense, Jun Ying nipped Medina in 77 moves of a Caro-Kann defense while Han crushed Lorenzo in 57 moves of a Modern defense.
Earlier, the Laguna Heroes defeated Penang, Malaysia, 5-2, in the blitz game.
“We really admire our players for showing great determination to stay undefeated. Hoping to continue having fine games in the coming matches.” said Arena Grandmaster Dr. Fred Paez, one of the four co-team owners of the Laguna Heroes that include Mr. David Nithyananthan of KALARO, Engr. Benjamin Dy of SDC Global Choice and Engr. Jonathan Mamaril of Oregon, USA.
“It was a tough match,” said Barcenilla, a two-time Asian Junior champion who is currently based in Chandler, Arizona, USA.
The Laguna Heroes also dealt Mindoro Tamaraws an 18-3 thrashing.
With the back-to back wins, the Laguna Heroes remain on top alongside San Juan Predators and Pasig City King Pirates with 7-0 clean slate in the Northern division. The Paralympics, meantime lord over the Southern division with 7-0 record