IT must have been close to déjà vu for the Iloilo Kisela Knights.
Up against the Palawan Queen’s Gambit in the opening matches of the Wesley So Cup, Iloilo, the third-placer of the All-Filipino Conference, was stunned in the first two boards of blitz play when Grandmasters (GMs) Hovhannes Gabuzyan and Joey Antonio were defeated by Woman International Master (WIM) Shania Mendoza and IM Padmini Rout.
During the All-Filipino Conference, Antonio was beaten by Shania Mendoza in rapid play.
Armenian Gabuzyan and Antonio both bounced back in rapid chess where the two points are significantly bigger against their respective blitz tormentors. The Kisela Knights also got a huge lift from the rest of the team up and down the line when Cherry Ann Meija, Cesar Mariano, Fritz Bryan Porras, Dennis Bernas and National Master (NM) John Michael Silvederio all got wins or a draw.
As a result, it was a more emphatic win for the Iloilo Kisela Knights, 18-3, as opposed to their 15-6 triumph during their All-Filipino Cup opening assignment.
Iloilo team manager and owner Leo Sotaridona expressed some concern after dropping the first two boards of blitz chess.
“A loss by our top two boards in blitz play was quite a surprise,” said the Iloilo native who is now based in the United States. “I was confident though that we could bounce back in the rapid round which is exactly what happened. All in all, it was a great start for the Kisela Knights.”
Also on opening night, the All-Filipino champions Laguna Heroes saw their luck in Armageddon play finally run out when they were tripped in extra board play by the Manila Indios Bravos, 2-1.
Both teams were even at 10.5 after both sides settled for a 3.5-3.5 score in blitz and a 7-7 score line in rapid play to send the match into Armageddon.
The still import-less Laguna team fielded Vince Angelo Media, GM Banjo Barcenilla and Fide Master (FM) Austin Jacob Literatus, the literal Hero of the All-Filipino Cup Finals against a Manila squad without GM Ino Sadorra that fielded FM Deniel Causo, IM Marvin Miciano and their Indonesian import, IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher.
Playing black, Causo defeated Medina. Barcenilla drew level once more with a win over Miciano leaving the outcome to Literatus whose ability to pull a rabbit out of any hat is well known.
Unfortunately for Laguna, Taher tricked Literatus when with 0.3 seconds left in the game clock, he gave away his rook. Literatus was unable to react to the unexpected sacrifice paving the way for the Indios Bravos to fashion out a thrilling 2-1 win.
For Laguna, which won all its Armageddons during the elimination round and play-offs of the All-Filipino Cup, the law of averages caught up to them
Said Manila team owner J. Paulo Elauria, “The game was unpredictable. I didn’t think it would happen. We have two new players, three including the import. Two players are used to playing over the board tournaments. During the game itself, they experienced mis-clicks, but with a stroke of luck, we went into Armageddon.”
Elauria credited the win to some of his locals as well as his import. “This is a team effort by all the boards. Our lady player Mira Mirano, and senior board, Cris Ramayrat, had perfect scores and did not lose. As for our Indonesian import, Mr. Taher, I believe that it was his plan to use guile to beat Mr. Literatus.”
“Taher captured pawn on G7 leaving 0.3 seconds left. With that little time left, Literatus could not move his king to capture the rook. As a result, Mr. Taher won by time out.”
Two contrasting wins by two of the seeded teams in this import-spiced Wesley So Cup. But I dare say that given that six of the 12 matches on opening day were won by four points or less, it’s going to be a closely fought tourney.
As the great New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”