By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Iloilo Kisela Knights continued their dominant run in the ongoing 2021 Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) San Miguel Corporation-Ayala Land Premier Association Cup playoffs after notching their sixth straight win with another back-to-back sweeping victory match day.
After hard-fought wins against their last four opponents, the Kisela Knights weren’t done and asserted their mastery over the Palawan Queen’s Gambit, 17-4, and the Toledo City Trojans, 13.5-7.5.
The Kisela Knights were immediately off to a hot start as they quickly established an early lead against the Queen’s Gambit.
Iloilo’s steady play in the blitz category put them ahead in the first seven playing boards, 5-2, and started to impose their will against Palawan in the rapid category.
With five straight wins in the rapid category courtesy of stellar performances from GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., Karl Viktor Ochoa, WFM Cherry Ann Mejia, Cesar Mariano, and Fritz Bryan Porras, the Kisela Knights never looked back and crushed Palawan entirely to end the last seven playing boards with a 12-2 lead.
Iloilo kept playing their consistent brand of offense against Toledo and repeated their exact game plan against Palawan when they started with a momentum-boosting 5.5-1.5 lead in the blitz category.
Toledo tried to mount a comeback in the last seven playing boards when they managed to score six but it was still Iloilo who led at the end, 8-6.
With another double-header win, the Kisela Knights are now seated at the no.1 spot of the Southern division with 231 points.
