Blazers sweep NCAA chess titles

College of St. Benilde (CSB) completed a twinkill in the recently concluded 86th NCAA chess tournament. The CSB Blazers reclaimed the crown it lost last year after posting a 3.5-0.5 win over Jose Rizal University (JRU) while their high school team, La Salle-Greenhills, pulled off a 2.5-1.5 decision against Letran in their one-game showdown. Joel Pimentel Jr., Narquingel Reyes and Jesse Abucejo scored the wins for CSB to cap their gold-medal clinching performance this season. The Blazers finished with 55 points The Taft-based squad ended their dominating feat with a four-point advantage of eventual second placer Letran, last year’s champion. In the high school division, Giovanni Mejia and Alfonso Ramos delivered the title-clinching wins on the Top 2 boards while a draw by Alexander Mendonez with Christian Rey Drapete on board four secured the title for the Junior Blazers. Mejia was named the tournament MVP while National Master Erwin Carag bagged the Best Coach honors for steering CSB, which won the first round pennant to assure itself a playoff for the crown, to its first crown in nearly a decade. The Squires, who forged the title showdown following a second round triumph, got a win from Christian Dave Cabida on board three but it wasn't enough. - JVP, GMANews.TV