MANILA, Philippines – The resurgence of the Caloocan LoadManna Knights continues.
Caloocan took down two of the top sides of the Southern Division of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines — 15.5-5.5 over Negros and 18-3 over Lapu-Lapu in the PCAP-SMC-Ayala Land Premier Cup.
The Knights turned a close match with Negros — 4.5-2.5 in blitz play — into a rout come rapid play behind big wins by IM Paulo Bersamina, Domingo Ramos, Paul Sanchez and Nelson Villanueva. Caloocan took rapid chess by a whopping score of 11-3 for a total of 15.-5.5.
The second match of the PCAP doubleheader was a bit closer as Caloocan took blitz play, 4-3, from the Naki Warriors. They won their top four boards but lost all three homegrown boards to Lapu-Lapu.
Rapid play was different as Lapu-Lapu’s NM Elwin Retanal tied up Bersamina in a draw while WIM Bernadette Galas defeated Lozano.
IM Jem Garcia and Ramos corralled huge four points.
It looked like Lapu-Lapu would reprise its homegrown wins after AJ Abellana defeated Sanchez, but Nelson Villanueva and Barlo Nadera atoned for their blitz losses by defeating Brylle Arellano and Allan Pason for a 9-5 score for Caloocan and a 13-8 total for a sweep of the double-header.
The two wins saw Caloocan leapfrog past Manila in the Northern division standings with an 8-1 slate; good for fourth spot behind San Juan, Laguna, and Pasig respectively.
Four Knights are in the Top 25 Statistical Leaders Board.
Garcia is currently ranked sixth in the statistical race with 14 wins and four draws and no loss.
Bersamina is in 15th with a 13-2-3 record.
Ramos is 23rd with an 11-1-4 slate while IM Barlo Nadera is at 25th with a 10-4-3 record.
Negros remained at third spot in the south with a 6-3 slate while Lapu-Lapu also stayed at fifth with a 5-4 record.
Caloocan’s next assignments are Palawan-Albay and Rizal on Saturday, October 23.