BOTH ATENEO Chess Teams began their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 campaigns on a rough start, remaining winless after the set of games held on Saturday, October 14 at the FEU Tech Building in Sampaloc, Manila.

The Ateneo Men’s Chess team fell to the defending champions University of Santo Tomas (UST) Male Woodpushers, 0-2. In the Women’s division, the Ateneo Blue Eagles were outclassed by the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Woodpushers, 0-2. 

For Season 86, the UAAP Chess Tournament organizing committee adopted a new scoring system based on the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) match point system, wherein a win scores two points, a draw scores one point, and a loss scores zero points, with the points referring to the overall result of the team head-to-head. This system replaces the game point system of prior seasons.

On the boards for the Ateneo Men’s Chess Team were Jasper Faeldonia, Khalil Kis-ing, Tristan Cervero, and Janmyl Tisado. Blue Eagles Kis-ing, Cervero, and Tisado bowed down to UST’s Melito Ocsan, Chester Neil Reyes, and Julius Gonzales in boards two, three, and four respectively. Meanwhile, rookie Jasper Faeldonia endured a back-and-forth battle with UST’s Mark Daluz on board one, with it ultimately concluding in a draw.

The Women’s Team’s first day of action started strong with lone victor and rookie Alphecca Gonazales outplaying FEU’s Bea Mendoza on the fourth board. Meanwhile, Blue Eagles Jiessel Marino, and Elayza Villa yielded to FEU’s Vic Glysen Derotas and Mary Joy Tan in boards one and two, respectively. On the third board, Team Captain Kristine Flores had a nail-biting match against Mhage Sebastian of FEU, eventually ending in a stalemate. 

When asked about each team’s mindset and possible adjustments going into the next set of games, Team Captains Khalil Kis-ing and Kristine Flores both praised their teams for their efforts while also encouraging them to strive for improvement. “I think we just need to prepare more and be more confident in our moves,” Kis-ing stated. “Sinabi ko rin sa team ko kanina na ok lang yan, first round pa lang naman. Pero [let us] make sure to make adjustments (I also told my team that it is okay, it is still the first round, but [let us] make sure to make adjustments).”

For her team, Flores shared much of the same sentiment as Kis-ing.“Feeling ko kailangan pa namin mag-training. Nakaka-proud din naman kahit ganito ang result sa amin ngayon, nakita ko naman na ginawa nila ang best nila,” she said.

(I feel that we still need to train. I am still proud despite our result today, because I saw that they did their best.)

Looking to bounce back from today’s performance, the Ateneo Men’s Chess Team is next set to face the De La Salle University Green Woodpushers tomorrow, October 15. On the other hand, the Ateneo Women’s Chess Team’s next game is scheduled on Saturday, October 21 against the UST Lady Woodpushers. Both matches are scheduled to start at 1:00 PM at the FEU Tech Building in Sampaloc, Manila.