THE ATENEO Women’s Chess Team halted the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons’ spirited fightback with a 2 (2) – 2 (2) stalemate to etch a repeat bronze finish in their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 stint. The contest and consequent tournament awarding happened earlier today at the FEU Institute of Technology in the City of Manila.
With the lineup of Jiessel Marino, Elayza Villa, Kristine Flores, and Alphecca Gonzales, the Blue and White traded blows with their maroon-clad foes—enough to maintain their overall bronze win from when the S85 Women’s Chess Team returned to the podium for the first time since 2011.
This new upwards trend of Ateneo chess started to materialize when team captain Flores witnessed a heartbreaker back in Season 84, where the team barely missed the podium by finishing fourth place overall at the hands of Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons.
In a bid to redeem the bitter loss from only being a step away from sweet victory, fate orchestrated Ateneo to face off the Lady Falcons again in last year’s tournament—with the bronze medal at stake once again. Still, the Blue and White avoided a repeat of history and rewrote it themselves by sealing the team’s return to the podium.
In today’s match, Marino orchestrated a strong fightback after a lengthy 64-move showdown against Jerlyn San Diego. Towards the game’s backend, both sides had three pieces left apiece, but unfortunately fell short to upend the opposition as she saw no openings and conceded at the endgame on board one.
Meanwhile, Villa asserted complete mastery over Precious Ferrer with 46 minutes left in her playing time—a stark comparison to the Diliman-based foe’s six minutes. Villa eventually subdued Ferrer under 55 moves to seal the deal for board two.
Elsewhere, Flores had a comfortable cushion of 31 minutes over Geraldine Guyo’s eight minutes, but still yielded to her foe as she found no other opening amid the 34-move bout, settling for a loss on board three.
Nonetheless, Gonzales proved that the Blue Eagles will always soar with grit by staging an equalizing effort versus Jarel Lacambra in board four. By cornering his foe’s king with a checkmate within 40 moves with 12 minutes left, Gonzales grabbed the match draw and ultimately solidified the overall bronze medal.
After the Blue Eagles secured another bronze for Loyola Heights, Team Captain Kristine Flores emphasized their collective joy. “Gusto lang talaga namin i-maintain ang position namin [from last season]. Super happy kami as a team na nag-stay kami sa podium,” she said.
(We really wanted to maintain our position [from last season]. As a team, we are super happy that we stayed on the podium.)
Flores also thanked her teammates for helping her bear the burdens of being team captain. “Alam ko sa sarili ko na marami akong pagkukulang pero ang pagkukulang na ‘yon napupunan ng teammates ko,” she shared.
(I know that I have shortcomings but those shortcomings are filled by my teammates.)
With the Women’s Chess Team successfully etching a new trend of Ateneo chess, the squad will eye to retain, or even exceed, their performance during the 87th season of the UAAP.
