San Juan squeaks past Caloocan in Wesley So Cup

MANILA, Philippines — In a closely fought match between the San Juan Predators and the Caloocan LoadManna Knights, the former came away with a squeaker of a win, 12-9, in the nightcap of the Saturday matches in the Wesley So Cup.

San Juan came away with a 4-3 lead after blitz play with crucial points coming from the homegrown boards.

Come rapid chess, it was homegrown player Narciso Gumila who also provided the crucial points when his opponent, Barlo Nadera, conceded. The Predators were looking at a draw and the one point that comes with it, but instead got two for an 8-6 win in blitz, and 12-9 overall.
 
Earlier, the Predators feasted on the Cavite Spartans, 19-2, for their 17th consecutive win that padded their win-loss total to a league-best 27-2.

San Juan has five players listed in the Top 25 performers of PCAP’s Wesley So Cup.

Grandmaster Oliver Barbosa is listed at second with a win-draw-loss record of 43-11-2. Lady player Jan Jodilyn Fronda is at third with a 43-5-6 line.

Narquingel Reyes is at 18th with a 33-11-8 record. GM Viktor Moskalenko and IM Ricky de Guzman are 22nd (36-6-10) and 23rd (34-12-6), respectively.  

Caloocan took the first game of the evening, a 16-5 win over Cagayan. The LoadManna Knights split their matches for a 23-6 record while Cavite – on the outside looking into the top eight squads of the Northern Division play-offs picture dropped to a 10-19 slate.

In other key northern division matches, the Manila Indios Bravos defeated Pasig, 13.5-7.7, and Antipolo, 12-9. 

Laguna crushed Quezon, 17-4, and edged winless Olongapo, 12-9.