THE ATENEO Men’s Chess Team drew against the University of the East (UE) in the third round of games in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 82 Men’s Chess tournament on September 21 at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Pavilion. 

Today’s results nudge the Blue Eagles record to 0-2-1 for 7th place and a points total of 5.0.

Ateneo shuffled their line-up for the UE matches, fielding Kurt Ong at board one, while Tristan Cervero, Team Captain Gavin Ong, and Alexander Santos took boards two, three, and four, respectively. 

Ateneo got off to a shaky start early in the round after K. Ong and Cervero dropped their matches and failed to edge an early lead. A victory from G. Ong earned the Blue and White’s first points and kept UE from sealing the round, setting up a crucial final game. Santos delivered with a commanding win to lock the score at 2-2. 

Although the team failed to earn their first win of the season, Coach Luffe Magdalaga remained hopeful for the next matches, saying, “Sa Sunday, ang kalaban natin ay [Far Eastern University]. Sila ang defending champion, so talagang kailangan ng preparation, tapos training din (On Sunday, our opponent is Far Eastern University. They are the defending champions, so what we really need is preparation as well as training),” he remarked.

Magdalaga also preached about the need for more urgency to get back on pace with their rivals.  “As much as possible, sana maka-two points din kami kasi hinahabol natin yung teams na malakas, sana mananalo tayo para umangat yung Ateneo (As much as possible, hopefully we can get two points because we are trying to catch up to the stronger teams. Hopefully we win so that Ateneo goes up the rankings),”  he said.The Blue Eagles have a chance to stake a claim for contention as they look to dethrone the defending champions UST at 1:00 PM on Sunday, September 22, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.