THE ATENEO Men’s Chess Team garnered poor results in their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 Blitz Chess campaign earlier today at the Adamson University Gym in the City of Manila.
Ateneo’s day at the inaugural competition began with optimism after their 2-2 draw versus the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Woodpushers. However, the Blue and White were struck with a 1-3 loss against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in their following assignment. The Blue Eagles failed to recover as they then yielded to the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, University of Santo Tomas (UST) Male Woodpushers, and Adamson (AdU) Soaring Falcons in consecutive 0.5-3.5 defeats.
Representing the Blue and White in the slate of games were Team Captain Khalil Kis-ing, Knarf Batislaong, Paul Llanillo, Colin Chua, and Manuel Maglunog.
Ateneo vs. DLSU
The Katipunan-based squad secured a stalemate against their Taft-based adversaries thanks to the heroics of Batislaong and Kis-ing, who clinched 2.5-1.5 victories against Angele Biete and Cyril Telesforo, respectively. However, tough 1-3 losses absorbed by both Llanillo and Maglunog prevented the Blue Eagles from taking the overall win.
Ateneo vs. UP
Eager to secure their first victory, the Blue and White confronted UP in their following series. Among the Blue Eagles, Batislaong captured Ateneo’s sole point with his strong showing against John Niadas, 3.5-0.5. On the other board, Kis-ing fell short against Stephen Pangilinan in a contested 1.5-2.5 duel. Both Llanillo and Maglunog then dropped their respective assignments against Roderenz Adra and Io Calica in identical fashion, 1-3.
Ateneo vs. FEU
Ateneo decided to swap out Batislaong for Chua in their series against FEU. Despite the change-up, the Blue Eagles still incurred unfavorable returns as Chua, Llanillo, and Maglunog all suffered shutout defeats against their opponents from Sampaloc, 0-4. Team Captain Kis-ing prevented an overall FEU sweep after he secured a deadlock against Tamaraw John Jacutina.
Ateneo vs. UST
Still looking for their first win, the Blue Eagles looked to stun Season 87 Chess champions UST in their penultimate match of the competition. Ultimately, the battle posed the same story as Ateneo’s previous series, 0.5-3.5, with Kis-ing being the Blue Eagles’ only scorer courtesy of his draw with Christian Daluz.
Ateneo vs. AdU
While Ateneo was determined to wrap up their trial-filled blitz stint with a silver lining, the Soaring Falcons dealt them their third and final 0.5-3.5 setback.
Due to their winless record throughout five matchups, the Blue Eagles concluded the tournament in last place.
