By Vince Matthew Jaramilla

Continuing their title defense campaigns, the Far Eastern University (FEU) women's, boys', and girls' chess teams successfully protected their place as frontrunners in stage one of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 chess tournaments last weekend, October 19 to 20, at the Adamson University (AdU) SV Gym in Manila City.

After the opening week, the women's, boys', and girls' squads stood on top of their competitions with 8.0, 7.5, and 6.5 points, respectively. 

On the other hand, the men's team held the two-seed of their division with 5.5 points, just half a marker behind frontrunner University of the Philippines (UP).

When the second week came, the green-and-gold boys continued their dominance by beating University of Santo Tomas (UST), 2.5-1.5, and AdU in a sweep. 

A similar performance came from the FEU-Diliman girls, conquering Adamson, 3.0-1.0, and finishing with a sweep of their own against De La Salle Santiago Zobel School.

The matches marked the high school squads’ last in stage one, comfortably putting them on the lead in their respective divisions.

Meanwhile, the Lady Woodpushers also came out at the one-seed as they defeated UP, 2.5-1.5, and De La Salle University (DLSU), 3.5-0.5.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, women's chess team captain and Women's National Master (WNM) Vic Glysen Derotas expressed joy for their effort in preparation coming to fruition.

"Nagbubunga 'yung preparations and hard work na binuhos namin before the game. We're doing great, and I'm proud of my teammates," she said.

Unfortunately, the Tamaraw Woodpushers fell off the standings after two straight losses against UST, 1.5-2.5, and UP, 1.0-3.0, placing the Morayta chessers at the fourth spot.

In another interview, FIDE (International Chess Federation) Master Mark Jay Bacojo mentioned their need to put more work in preparation.

"There's room for improvement. Medyo hindi maganda 'yung ipinapakita namin ngayon… I think we should review our opponents more deeply and [spend] more time learning," he stated.

Meanwhile, WNM Derotas also emphasized the continuation of the FEU chess team's careful execution as the key to their success.

"'Wag mag-relax and continue to give our best shot. Consider every game as the championship round… Mag-ingat lang palagi sa laro. Medyo magiging maliwanag 'yung pag-uwi ng korona, if we do that (Don't relax and continue to give our best shot. Consider every game as the championship round… Just always be careful while playing. Taking the crown will be more probable, if we do that)," she added.

At the same venue, the Lady Woodpushers will close stage one of the tourney against DLSU and Ateneo de Manila University on October 26 and 27, respectively. 

On the other hand, the Tamaraw Woodpushers will face the former in their last match also on October 27.

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)