THE BLUE and Lady Chess teams are enduring the current season of the UAAP in their best of abilities and mental finesse, and they are putting it out on display on UST grounds. While the Blue Woodpushers are besieged with losses and draws, their female counterparts are soaring above the ranks.
Slow yet steady
With their current standing of five losses, two draws, and no wins, the seniors’ chess team has indeed struggled. But co-captain Emmanuel Plan VII says that in terms of improvement, they lead the other teams.
Photo by Joseph Angan
The games kicked off on January 10 with the Blue and White chess masters battling out NU. Short of a win against the Bulldogs, the skirmish ended at two-all.
They battled De La Salle University on January 16, losing to them 1.5-2.5, with Plan winning on the third board and rookie Nathan Sarigumba drawing on the fourth board. Their next opponents, UE, however, were too strong as they swept the Woodpushers 0-4 the next day.
When the Woodpushers played Adamson University on January 23, they were yet again a match short from a win. With Plan and Sarigumba managing to snag wins against their opponents, the game concluded in another 2-2 draw.
But against the host school UST and defending champions FEU on January 30, both schools proved to be a class above the struggling Woodpushers as team Ateneo received respective 4-0 beatings.
Still trying to achieve a win, the Woodpushers faced UP on the last game of the round but fell 1-3, with Sarigumba being the only one to prevent yet another clean sheet.
“Sa totoo nga, hindi naming ineexpect to get these points from them (In reality, we’re not really expecting that we will be able to get these points from them),” Plan says.
According to the Woodpusher co-captain, in previous years, it was natural for other teams to obtain easy wins against Ateneo. Thus the sprinkle of individual wins they are getting is proof of their improvement.
Despite their stagnant line-up and rookie starters Sarigumba and Gabriel Gatbonton, Ronald Tong agrees with Plan’s sentiments. “We can match up right now,” he says, “It’s just experience that is killing us right now.”
Soaring above the competition
Double trouble. While the Blue Woodpushers are besieged with losses and draws, their female counterparts are soaring above the ranks. | Photo by Joseph Angan
With a near perfect record of 6-1, the Lady Woodpushers on the other hand are currently one of the top dogs in the women’s tournament.
The women’s team began their campaign with a win against host school UST, 2.5-1.5 on January 10. They outplayed their next opponents, UE through 4-0 margin on January 16, and the following day, they rose and clawed out the NU Lady Bulldogs 2.5-1.5.
With a strong start through three successive wins, the Lady Woodpushers had garnered confidence and a winning momentum when it came time to face chess powerhouse, FEU, on January 23. However, the Tamaraws, displaying their dominance on the board gave the Lady Woodpushers their only loss through a close match that finished 1.5-2.5. The lady chess squad, however, was able to recover from the loss with another 4-0 sweep against UP the following day. Finishing off the first round of matches, they outplayed La Salle on January 31, 2.5-1.5.
Heading into their second round of matches with a near flawless 6-1 record, they faced UE on February 7, and proved their superiority once again, winning 3-1.
Team Captain Katrina Edaniol is happy with the way things are going on for the team. She says that the experience brought about by the last season brought good things for them. Moreover, the addition of stellar rookies, Chardine Cheradee Camacho and Kristine have contributed greatly to their current standing.
Compared to last year, the veteran woodpusher feels that this year’s team is far more superior technically. “Malayo na yung gap (The gap’s big) [of ability] between the team last year and the team this year,” she says.
