San Juan-Caloocan, Davao-Negros in crucial Wesley So Cup matches Saturday

MANILA, Philippines — With three playdates left in the ongoing Wesley So Cup of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines, teams are not only playing for playoff position, but also for momentum, if not, pride.

Old sparring mates San Juan Predators and the Caloocan LoadManna Knights go at each other once more tonight, Saturday, July 9, with the winner either solidifying its hold on the second spot of the northern division or possibly unseating leader Pasig (depending on how they fare today).

Although San Juan has a slightly better record at this point, 22-5 as opposed to Caloocan’s 21-6 slate, they are equal in won-points… 371 each. And that could be the tiebreaker. 

San Juan has had the upper hand in this match-up, but Caloocan is playing their best chess in the five conferences of PCAP’s young history.

Over at the south, the Davao Chess Eagles have been an instant power since their coming on board as a regular squad in the previous conference. Negros, previously the second powerhouse team, has been on a roller coaster ride across the previous conferences. 

Like Caloocan, they have been solid in this conference. They are in the midst of their best elimination round performance since the inaugural PCAP All-Filipino Cup when they finished the elimination round with a 28-6 record. The highest the Kingsmen have placed was third spot after the elimination round of that same inaugural PCAP conference.

Since then, they have consistently finished fourth.

Today, they are one win behind Davao which has a 21-6 record. It is a huge match that can greatly boost their confidence heading into the playoffs. A sweep of the evening’s double header (Negros battles tough Zamboanga in the second match) can vault them into second spot.

At this point, catching leader Iloilo is impossible unless they go on a downward spiral. At this stage, all Negros wants is to gain confidence, win as many games as they can, then go all out during the playoffs.

Fans can watch the San Juan-Caloocan as well as the Davao-Negros match on the Facebook page of PCAP or the respective team FB pages.