MANILA, Philippines – There is one last “contender” for the Pasig King Pirates to test their mettle.
Pasig, the best team in the San Miguel Corporation-All-Filipino Cup of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines with their 20-1 record, will battle the unpredictable Negros Kingsmen and their 14-7 record, Wednesday night.
The King Pirates have beaten the league’s best in Iloilo, San Juan, Laguna, Caloocan, Manila, Davao and Toledo. They have been an unstoppable juggernaut laying waste to opponents.
They have accumulated 315 points. That is 25 more than second-running northern rival San Juan, and 128 more points than eighth seed Quezon City Simba’s Tribe. And that is 42 points more than Negros.
Despite being the underdog in this match-up, the Kingsmen aren’t exactly roadkill. In this inter-division phase of PCAP, they have beaten Caloocan, Isabela — which is the sole team to inflict a loss on Pasig this conference — and Davao.
While there is one last intra-division leg to play, this match presents an opportunity to show if they have what it takes to be a champion and that “mahiwaga ang chess board”, as people like to say.
They will need more than Ted Montoyo and Ellan Asuela showing up if they want to win or even make a statement against a team with five players ranked among the league’s 25 best.
Another team that needs a conference-turning win is the Manila Indios Bravos, who have since last season’s inaugural All-Filipino tilt have been sinking fast as Jakarta is due to climate change.
At 9-10, they are battling with Cagayan, Isabela, Quezon City and Rizal for that sixth and seventh spot. Eighth place in the north gives a team the prize of having to face Pasig in the first round of the coming play-offs. Not exactly a thrilling prospect unless one is just happy to play one extra day.
Manila takes on the dangerous Davao Chess Eagles, who at 16-5 have yet to hit their stride.
Davao is dangerous and they have scored big wins against San Juan and Caloocan. The Chess Eagles would love nothing more to continue to bolster their PCAP stock and stay within striking distance of southern leader, Iloilo.
In the evening’s double-header, Pasig will close out inter-division play by taking on the Palawan-Albay Queen’s Gambit while Negros will lock horns with Iriga.
The Indios Bravos will have no respite as they face off against the Iloilo Kisela Knights in their nightcap while for the Davao squad, it doesn’t get any easier as they meet the defending conference titlists, Laguna Heroes.
The matches of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines can be viewed via streaming on the league’s Facebook page as well as the individual team Facebook pages.
Other league sponsors include Ayala Land and PCWorx.