As if to make up for the senior Falcons’ poor showing in the UAAP Season 71 basketball, the Baby Falcons chess team became back-to-back Champions in the UAAP chess tournament held from August 9 to September 21 at UST’s new Tan Yan Kee Student Center.
The team members are Steven James Dacanay, Ali Guya, Gregorio Aquino, Timothy John So Kua, Jessies Abucejo and Vianca Camille Canada.
Cañada, a high school senior who got a silver in the overall board 1 event, said that their gameplan was “to play the board, not the player.”
According to Steven James Dacanay, coach Christopher Rodriguez emphasized, “No nerves! It doesn’t matter if you’re a winner or a loser as long as you’re a fighter and always fight.”
Ali Guya who’s known to be an aggressive player shared that he usually pressures his opponent on the opening part of the game. Other team members agreed that in every game “the player must analyze and evaluate the positioning of their rival and should be mindful that every move they make should always have a purpose. Above all, in order to reach your goal, know the use of sacrifice.”
Meanwhile, the seniors’ Falcon chess team had a good third rank comeback, tied up with the Green Archers and Red Warriors with 26.5 points. Valerie G. Espiritu
