Caloocan-San Juan top-bills PCAP All-Filipino Cup opener

MANILA, Philippines – While many teams in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines tinkered with their lineups, such isn't the case for the Caloocan LoadManna Knights. 

It’s still the same — the twin IM attack of Paulo Bersamina and Jem Garcia on the top two boards, Arvie Lozano, Domingo Ramos, Barlo Nadera, Paul Sanchez and Nelson Villanueva the rest of the way with Juancho Conte, Art Villasenor, and Alexis Maribao as alternates.

Maybe that isn’t so bad as they are banking on familiarity, chemistry and teamwork to get them deeper into the playoffs and to the Promised Land of a championship. All that and hunger.

The San Juan Predators are somewhat a testament to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” maxim. But when two solid players come a-knocking, who are they to say no?

With Grandmasters no longer allowed to play on the homegrown boards, Oliver Barbosa now is on the top boards. That is when he is available and free from work duties in the United States where he resides. Which is why the addition of FM Nelson Mariano is huge as is FM Christopher Castellano.

Also returning are IM Rolando Nolte, WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda, IM Ricky de Guzman, FM Arden Reyes, Narquingel Reyes, Narciso Gumila, AGM Gavin Ong and Shariz Ngo.

The two squads meet up in the opener of the second All-Filipino Cup of PCAP this Saturday, January 22; the highlight of the 12-match weekend.

The route to every PCAP championship has come San Juan’s way.

The Laguna Heroes had to dispatch them in the semi-finals of last season’s All-Filipino tourney. In the Wesley So Cup, the Iloilo Kisela Knights took them down in the finals. And in the season-ending SMC-Ayala Land Premier Cup, San Juan finally got the monkey off their backs when they turned back Iloilo.

Maybe it stands to reason this tournament will go through this Predators team that represents San Juan as a historic town that was key during the wars of Independence against the Spanish and the Americans.

One thing is for sure in this second season of PCAP, it is going to be epic.

PCAP will launch its second season with an online opening program at 5PM that can be viewed on the league’s Facebook page (including the respective teams) with the matches beginning at 7 p.m.