by Marlon Bernardino
MANILA—GM Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr. powered the Laguna Heroes to a 18-3 whipping of Mindoro Tamaraws in the 2nd season of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All Filipino Conference online chess tournament virtually held at Chess.com Platform, Wednesday night, February 2, 2022.
The former two-time Asian Junior champion Barcenilla, bounced back from his 2 draws to GM Mark Paragua of Pasig City King Pirates, by checkmating Arena Grandmaster Emmanuel Asi after 36 moves of a Ruy Lopez Opening in the blitz portion followed by a 42-move victory from an English Opening in the rapid play.
This helped the Laguna Heroes of team owner-playing coach Arena Grandmaster Dr. Alfredo “Fred” Paez recover from their 10-11 setback to Pasig City King Pirates. The Heroes climbed to third spot with a 5-1 win-loss record in the Northern Division standings behind tournament co-leaders Pasig City King Pirates and San Juan Predators who tote similar 6-0 outputs.
“Our loss to Pasig was a bit disheartening since we won in blitz and we were ahead in the rapid, 10-7, with 2 games remaining. I told the players not to get affected by the result and focus on the 2nd match instead. The Laguna Heroes responded well by winning both in blitz and rapid against Mindoro,” 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.
Also delivering crucial wins for the Heroes backed up by KALARO, Greatech Philippines, Inc., SDC Global Choice, Jolly Smile Dental Clinic and Rotary Club of Nuvali were FM Austin Jacob Literatus, Woman NM Jean Karen Enriquez, FM Jose Efren Bagamasbad, Kimuel Lorenzo and Richie Jocson.
Literatus bested Arena GM Nezil Merilles, Enriquez crushed Arena FM Cylliz Kaessa Merilles, Bagamasbad subdued Cesar Cunanan, Lorenzo beat Arena GM Joselito Asi and Jocson nipped Ronald Berdera.
United States Master Rainier Labay averted a shutout for the Mindoro Tamaraws in the rapid play when he drew with Vince Angelo Medina.
The Laguna Heroes trounced Mindoro Tamaraws in blitz portion, 5-2, as well as in the rapid format, 13-1.
The Laguna Heroes look forward to another great performance Saturday night (February 5, 2022) when they face Caloocan Loadmanna Knights and Cavite Spartans.
Meanwhile, Davao and Iloilo chessers take charge in the Southern Division with a 5-1 win-loss record.
PCAP, the country’s first and only play-for-pay chess league, is headed by Atty. Paul Elauria as President-Commissioner; Michael Angelo Ong Chua as Chairman; Dr. Ariel Potot as Vice Chairman and Atty. Arnel Batungbakal as Treasurer.
The tournament is sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), headed by Chairman Abraham “Baham” Mitra, and supported by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), led by Chairman/President Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.