The San Juan Predators and the Pasig City King Pirates will clash for the Northern Division crown of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Wesley So Cup.In the semifinals on Saturday, December 2, second seed San Juan waylaid the gallant stand of the third seed Cavite Spartans, 11-10 and 13.5-7.5 while top seed Pasig outplayed fifth seed Laguna-Philippine Executive Chess Association, 12-9, and 14-7.In the first set, San Juan went ablaze in the blitz event with Woman International Master Jan Jodilyn Fronda (Board 3), International Master Paulo Bersamina (Board 5), Narquinden Reyes (Board 6) and Narquingel Reyes (Board 7) scoring victories and International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia (Board 1) and Karl Victor Ochoa (Board 2) forging draws.In the rapid event, the Cavite Spartans notched two-pointers each from Grandmaster Aleksey Sorokin (Board 2), Woman International Master Marie Antoinette San Diego (Board 3), Grandmaster Rogelio 'Joey' Antonio Jr. (Board 4) and Ricky Batcho (Board 6) but fell short of stealing the win.'It was a close match in the first set. We did our very best but San Juan got the upperhand early and we failed to catch up,' said Antonio, the 13-time Philippine Open champion who carried the fight for Cavite.It was one of the most impressive performances by GM Antonio in the country's first and only professional chess league as he stunned Grandmaster Viktor Moskalenko of Spain twice on Saturday.'The first set was close but San Juan played well in the second,' Antonio added. 'Congratulations to Team San Juan ni (PCAP) chairman Michael Angelo Ong Chua.'In the second set, Ochoa, Garcia, Fronda, and Narquinden Reyes won their respective matches in blitz play while Bersamina contributed a draw.In the rapid play, Garcia, Fronda, Reyes and Bersamina defeated their respective foes even as Narquingel Reyes salvaged a draw for San Juan.Pasig City, on the other hand, proved too good for Laguna in two sets.This is the fourth time San Juan and Pasig City clashed for the Northern Division crown with the King Pirates winning two of their first three encounters.In the Southern Division, Iloilo Kisela Knights had to go through Armageddon tie-break to outlast Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates.Surigao drew first blood, 17-4 but Iloilo retaliated with a close 11-10 win in the second set.The Kisela Knights, however, prevailed in the extra set, 2-1, to advance to the division finale opposite the Toledo-Xignex Trojans.Toledo dominated the Davao Durianburg Stallions, 15.5, 11.5-9.5.The conference finals are slated on Wednesday via the Chess.com platform.
