The defending champion Laguna Heroes completed another two-game sweep Wednesday in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) dubbed as Grandmaster Wesley So Cup held via chess.com platform.
The Heroes opened the night right, blanking the Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates, 21-0, before hammering out a 14.5-6.5 win over the Toledo City Trojans to improve their record to 13-4 – good for a share of third to fourth places with the Caloocan Loadmanna Knights.
“We hope to do even better in the succeeding matches and improve our overall standing,” said Dr.Fred Paez, one of four co-team owners of the team.
Grandmasters Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr. (Board 1), sub-import Ukrainian Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko (Board 2), Woman National Master Jean Karen Enriquez (Board 3) and Vince Angelo Medina (Board 6) led Laguna to smashing win over the Checkmates.
Barcenilla defeated sub-import Iranian Grandmaster Amir Bagheri in 41 moves Caro-Kann Defense, Accelerated Panov variation, Shevchenko trounced National Master Rommel Ganzon in 75 moves of Petroff defense, Enriquez checkmated Jinky Catulay in 51 moves Sicilian defense, Grandprix variation and Medina crushed Ariel Joseph Abellana in 29 Caro-Kann defense.
The Heroes hope to clinch the top spot in the Northern Division when they face the Zamboanga Sultans and the Camarines Soaring Eagle on Saturday.
Other members of the Laguna Heroes are Candidate Master Arjie Bayangat, David Nithyananthan of KALARO, Engr. Benjamin Dy of SDC Global Choice and Engr. Jonathan Mamaril of Oregon, USA.
