MANILA, Philippines — The Pasig King Pirates are now truly royalty, chess royalty.
In an upset of Wesley So-proportions, the Kings knocked off the Knights in a gripping and with no holds barred two-sets that ended in a stalemate. It had to be settled via Armageddon.
Pasig took the first set, 12.5-8.5. Iloilo rebounded in the second set, 15.5-5.5 to set up the extra boards.
The King Pirates sprung a surprise when GM Mark Paragua — who is in India for the 44th Chess Olympiad — showed up for Board 1 action against Iloilo’s GM Hovhanes Gabuzyan.
The Kisela Knight’s resident import won the battle, but this is where Pasig’s strength came from — their homegrown boards.
Kevin Arquero and IM Eric Labog Jr. defeated Karl Viktor Ochoa and GM Joey Antonio to give Pasig a 2-1 win and their first ever PCAP championship.
In the first two sets, it was Pasig’s homegrown players who made the difference.
The trio of Jerome Villanueva, Arquero, and Labog took 8.5 of a possible nine points.
Even as Iloilo blanked Pasig in the second set, the King Pirates’ homegrown cadre accumulated the most points, four out of a possible nine. And then came their showing in Armageddon.
En route to the trophy, they took down the two best homegrown line-ups — San Juan’s and Iloilo’s, that garnered a huge pick up in Rolly Parondo Jr.
As early as the first ever All-Star Game dating back to the 2021 season, Pasig began making noises about their ascent up Philippine professional chess.
While others dismissed their tactics where they got their support base to vote for their players into the All-Star Game, it was actually the start of their team mentality.
Then they made the northern division semi-finals and then the division finals where they both lost.
This time, like the early Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls who needed to get past their nemesis in the Detroit Pistons, Pasig made good with their date with destiny.
They are the fourth team to bag a trophy — third in the northern division after the Laguna Heroes and San Juan Predators.
Iloilo, which was gunning for the first repeat champion in PCAP, unfortunately, lost their third straight finals.
In the battle for third place, the Negros Kingsmen finally ended a streak of futility against San Juan when they beat the Predators, 14.5-6.5, to take the third place trophy — their first in team history.
The King Pirates and the Kingsmen are finally on top.