5 things that need to be answered in the 2022 PCAP All-Filipino Cup

MANILA, Philippines – The second season of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines will get underway Saturday, January 22.

There will be a total of 24 teams vying for three championships (not to mention the silver and bronze medal trophies). 

Not only is there player movement as teams look to build their squads, there is also team movement. 

The Mindoro Tamaraws make the move north to the stacked and loaded Northern Conference. 

Cordova and Lapu-Lapu have taken a leave of absence that has been filled by Cagayan de Oro and Tacloban. 

Zamboanga and Quezon City have returned after skipping last year’s season-ending Open Conference.

And as always, we have some questions heading into the season.

Is there an imbalance of power in PCAP?

Sure looks like it.

Take a gander at the North and you have Laguna, San Juan, Pasig and Caloocan who are title contenders. The jury is out of Manila that went from very good to what’s going on now?

Over at the south, it’s Iloilo and well, Davao. And yes, the latter is good on paper but also far untested with this lineup that is until the season starts.

Negros… well… word is they lost a bunch of players. We’ll find out who they have in a few days’ time. 

Toledo looked good in the second conference until eligibility issues hit and hurt them. They came back strong in the third conference, but clearly lacked that finishing touch. Maybe in this new season, they’ll have their mojo going for them.

Does this lead to a clear path for the Iloilo Kisela Knights to the top of the south? Can the Palawan-Albay Queen’s Gambit take advantage of this flux of players to make a serious move for the top of the conference charts?

Right now on paper, the north will be a battle royale. 

Having said that, will there be a repeat PCAP champion?

During the inaugural PCAP season in 2021, there were three different champions in the three different conferences. 

The Laguna Heroes earned the distinction of being the first ever PCAP champions when they defeated the Camarines Soaring Eagles in the All-Filipino Cup.

Come the import-flavored Reinforced Conference, it was the Iloilo Kisela Knights who reigned supreme when they topped the San Juan Predators.

San Juan had their revenge in the season-ending Open Conference by turning the tables on the Kisela Knights.

In terms of wins and losses, the Predators were the winningest club in the elimination round (30-4 in the All Filipino Cup, 31-3 in the Wesley So Cup, and 29-3 in the PCAP-SMC-Ayala Land Premier Cup) with a total record of 90-10 for a 90% winning percentage.

In the playoffs, Iloilo posted a 9-2 slate in the knockout rounds while San Juan was a game behind at 9-3.

Off-hand, all three title-winning teams kept their line-ups intact give or take one or two changes.

A betting man would say that of the three, San Juan and Iloilo look good. But there is another team tugging at their collective capes.

Can the Pasig King Pirates fulfill their potential?

There were several teams that soared but crashed and burned. After the All-Filipino Conference, the Camarines Soaring Eagles were expected to come back strong in the Reinforced Conference. And they looked good. But toward the end of the elimination round, they lost altitude and came crashing down all the way to the Open Conference. They pulled out one more surprise when GM Mark Paragua took Board 1 in the playoffs, but that looked more like a last gasp.

And there were the Negros Kingsmen who were fearsome in the All-Filipino but lost steam as the season progressed.

And that leads us to the Pasig King Pirates. 

I wondered last season how can a stack and loaded line-up with two GMs and two refugees from Mindoro and Antipolo lose? Sometimes, I wondered at why they chose certain lineups. Whether they were juggling it to keep everyone happy or maybe some were available, I don’t know. That is just my observation.

Word is they added GM Mark Paragua from Camarines and IM Cris Ramayrat from Manila (while they lost GM Roland Salvador). 

We heard that David Elorta has left. What’s with this? Elorta is like a nomad or ronin. He’s played for Mindoro, Antipolo and Pasig. He is PCAP’s version of American basketball player Paul Shirley, who had played for over a dozen basketball teams in his pro career. Elorta changes zip codes like it’s going out of style.

And we heard too that Sherwin Tiu — who has frequent flier miles like Elorta from Mindoro to Antipolo to Pasig — is looking for a new team. 

Nevertheless, anything less than a title for Pasig will be a disappointment.

Are the Davao Chess Eagles instant contenders?

They did land FM Sander Severino, NM Henry Lopez and FM Roel Abelgas who all gave a very good account of themselves in the Open Conference with the Philippine Paralympic Team. 

They also brought in NM Jonathan Tan, who gave a very good account of himself with Surigao last season where he was on their Board 1 and battled with many GMs posting a 12-3-7 record. 

On their Board 4 is female player Mary Palero Segarra and AGM Mary Rowelyn Joy Acedo, who last year was the second best player for Negros with a 23-8-11 record.

NM Alexander Lupian will man the senior board while their homegrown boards will be staffed by Aglipay Oberio, Arnel Aton, Anthony Mosqueda, James Infiesto and Aladino Diez.

They will tell you now they have team chemistry, good management, and are backed by a good tech team. Now we will see how they fare against the league.

I thought the league would start with a match between Iloilo and Caloocan but…

And lastly, circle February 19, chess lovers. For that is the day when Iloilo and Caloocan collide. If you have been sleeping inside a cave, then you wouldn’t know. But if you know why, then this is the game you should watch. 

In my opinion, the league should have made this the opening game. We need fireworks in our lives even if it isn’t New Year’s Eve.