Wesley So Cup: Davao beats Pasig for 1st time; San Juan downs Zamboanga

MANILA, Philippines – You can bet June 11 was circled in red by the Davao Chess Eagles.

For starters, they have yet to defeat the Pasig King Pirates in three conferences. And second, Grandmaster Darwin Laylo, now with Davao, was squaring off against his old team after he was unceremoniously dropped by the King Pirates on the eve of PCAP’s Wesley So Cup.

First win? In the bag.

Revenge. Done.

Davao rallied from a 4-3 deficit in blitz play to take rapid chess, 8-6, for a huge 11-10 win last weekend. 

With Laylo and FM Sander Severino tying up Pasig’s GM Mark Paragua and IM Ildefonso Datu respectively in both blitz and rapid play, Davao’s Rowelyn Joy Acedo, NM Alexander Lupian and NM Jonathan Tan took the crucial middle boards in rapid play that allowed them to take the huge win.

“Masaya ang buong team,” shared Severino. “Hindi namin na expect manalo kasi solid yung Pasig. Gusto lang namin bigyan sila ng good fight pero nanalo kami.”

Earlier in the Saturday double-header, Davao continued their mastery over the San Juan Predators as they won 12-9 (4-3 in blitz and 8-6 in rapid play).

San Juan rebounded from the first set loss to take a squeaker over the Zamboanga Sultans, 11-10.

The two wins gave Davao an 8-3 record in the south as inter-division play started.

San Juan went to 7-4. 

Meanwhile, Pasig also dropped its third match in 11 outings as it lost the front end of the two Saturday games. The Iloilo Kisela Knights banked on a huge 5.5-1.5 win in blitz chess then survived a close shave in rapid play for an 8-6 victory.