MANILA, Philippines – Far Eastern University (FEU) continued its impressive showing to grab solo leadership in the seniors men’s division after round 9 in the 72nd season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) chess team championships.

FEU blanked De La Salle University (DLSU), 4-0, at the University of Santo Tomas Tan Yan Kee Student Center in España, Manila on Sunday.

The Tamaraws, playing under the banner of head coach Grandmaster (GM) Jayson Gonzales, is composed of Lyndon Sombilon, James Bulicatin, Sheider Nebato and Kevin Mirano.

The team trounced the Green Archers who were represented by Paolo Bautista, Mari Joseph Turqueza, Emmanuel Emperado and Brian Vasallo.

“Our preparation had paid off,” said Gonzales, a two-time Olympian. “We hope to sustain our momentum.”

The Morayta-based school currently has 26.5 points. It is looking for a historic four-peat title in this tournament supervised by International arbiter/National Master (NM) Elias Lao.

GM-elect Ronald Dableo’s UST team, on the other hand settled a truce with Jojo Aquino’s National University (NU) squad, 2-2, to raise their total points to 26 for solo 2nd place.

At third place is University of the East (UE) mentored by Harold “Henry” Mariano. UE edged Adamson University (AdU) of candidate master Christopher Rodriguez (2.5-1.5) for 21 points.

University of the Philippines (UP) of FIDE (World Chess Federation) Master Leonardo Carlos took solo 4th after beating Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), 3-1, for 16.5 points, a half point ahead of 5th placer NU which totes 16 points.
 
DLSU remains in 6th place with 15.5 points followed by AdU (14 points) and ADMU (8.5 points).
 
Meanwhile, ADMU leads the seniors women’s division with 20 points while AdU is on top of the juniors division with 22.5 points. – by Marlon Bernardino