Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo destroyed Paul Sanchez to power Laguna Heroes to a 12-9 victory over Caloocan Loadmanna Knights 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 Saturday, February 5, 2022.
Lorenzo (Board 6), the pride of Cabuyao City, Laguna, overpowered Sanchez in 25 moves of a Sicilian defense in the blitz portion and in 69 moves of a Dutch defense in the rapid game to lift the Heroes to their seven wins against one loss in the Northern Division, the same output of Pasig City King Pirates and San Juan Predators. The Loadmanna Knights slipped to 5-3 together with Cagayan Kings.
Board 3 player Woman National Master Jean Karen Enriquez yielded to Woman National Master Arvie Lozano in 43 moves of Pirc defense in the blitz game but bounced back by ecking out a 38 move victory of their King's Indian attack encounter during the rapid play.
"Powered by two strong IMs in the top 2 boards, Caloocan is really a strong team. We had a tough match against them. We were really just lucky for winning the match," said Arena Grandmaster Dr. Fred Paez, one of the four co-team owner 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 draws for the Heroes backed up by KALARO, Greatech Philippines, Inc., SDC Global Choice, Jolly Smile Dental Clinic and Rotary Club of Nuvali were Grandmaster Rogelio "Banjo" Barcenilla Jr. (Board 1), Fide Master Austin Jacob Literatus (Board 2), International Master Angelo Young (Board 4) and Richie Jocson (Board 7).
Barcenilla, Literatus, Young and Jocson split the points with International Master Paulo Bersamina, International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia, International Master Domingo Ramos and Alexis Emil Maribao, respectively.
Board 5 player International Master Barlo Nadera provided the full point for the Atty. Arnel Batungbakal Caloocan Loadmanna Knights squad in the rapid portion. Nadera nipped Vince Angelo Medina.
The Laguna Heroes edged Caloocan Loadmanna Knights in blitz portion,4-3, as well as in the rapid format,8-6.
Heroes routed Cavite Spartans, 15-6, in the following round.
The Laguna Heroes look forward to another great performance Wednesday night (February 9, 2022) when they face San Juan and Quezon City.
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.