2021 Professional Chess Association of the Philippines season

The 2021 Professional Chess Association of the Philippines season is the inaugural season of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP), a professional chess league in the Philippines. The season opened on January 12, 2021.

There were three conferences or separate tournaments under the 2021 season. The first conference was the All-Filipino Conference. It was followed by the Reinforced and Open Conferences.

Teams There are 24 teams in the PCAP as of the inaugural season divided into two geographic groups.

North Antipolo Cobras Laguna Heroes (Cabuyao) Cagayan Kings Caloocan Loadmanna Knights Isabela Knight Raiders Cavite Spartans (General Trias) Manila Indios Bravos Olongapo Rainbow Team 7 Pasig City King Pirates Quezon City Simba's Tribe Rizal Batch Towers San Juan Predators

South Camarines Soaring Eagles Cebu City Machers Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors Iloilo Kisela Knights Iriga City Oragons Lapu-Lapu City Naki Warriors Mindoro Tamaraws Negros Kingsmen Palawan–Albay Queens' Gambit Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates Toledo City Chess Miners Zamboanga Sultans

Draft

Team changes Name changes The Palawan Queens' Gambit changed their name to the Palawan–Albay Queens' Gambit starting the Open Conference.

All-Filipino Conference The first tournament of the 2021 PCAP season was the All-Filipino Conference which began on January 16, 2021. The conference finals was held on April 3, 2021 which was contested by the Laguna Heroes of the Northern Division and the Camarines Soaring Eagles of the Southern Division. The Laguna Heroes clinched the title of PCAP's inaugural conference.

Regular season Northern Division

Southern Division

Playoffs Scores within parentheses are the result of the Armageddon play tiebreaker in either sets which ended in the draw or both teams having the same aggregate score after all sets have been played. Northern Division

Southern Division

Grand finals Set North Division Team Points South Division Team1 Laguna Heroes 14.5 – 6.5 Camarines Soaring Eagles2 Laguna Heroes 9.5 – 11.5 Camarines Soaring EaglesAggregate Laguna Heroes 1 – 1(2 – 1) Camarines Soaring Eagles

Awards Best Player of the Conference: Jem Garcia (Caloocan) Finals Most Valuable Player: Banjo Barcenilla (Laguna)

Reinforced Conference The Reinforced Conference will also be known as the Wesley So Cup for this season due to sponsorship of Filipino-American chess player Wesley So himself. Each team would be allowed to field one foreign player; who may either be a rated, lady, or senior player. The same format from the All Filipino Conference will be used for the Reinforced Conference which is scheduled to begin on May 15.

Foreign players Northern Division Jimmy Chee Meng Liew (Caloocan) Alexei Barsov (Cagayan) Wagish Kumar Rai (Cavite) Kirill Shevchenko (Laguna) Yosef Taher (Manila) Viktor Moskalenko (San Juan) Siew Kai Xin (Quezon City) Kevin Goh (Pasig) Gombosuren Munkhgal (Pasig)

Southern Division Marie Sebag (Camarines) Poompong Wiwatanadate (Cebu City) Nitzan Steinberg (Cordova) Hovhannes Gabuzyan(Iloilo) Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên (Lapu-Lapu City) Fruzsina Szente-Varga (Mindoro) Steven Breckenridge (Negros) Padmini Rout (Palawan) Amir Bagheri (Toledo) Alexandr Fier (Zamboanga)

Regular season Northern Division

Southern Division

Play-ins The seventh to tenth best finishing teams in the regular season qualify for the play-ins. The seventh place team play against the tenth place team, and the eight place team play against the ninth place team. The lower seeded teams needed to beat the higher seeded team to advance.

Northern Division

Southern Division

Playoffs Scores within parentheses are the result of the Armageddon play tiebreaker in either sets which ended in the draw or both teams having the same aggregate score after all sets have been played. Northern Division

Southern Division

Third place playoff Set North Division Team Points South Division Team1 Laguna Heroes 10.5 – 10.5 Cordova Dutchess Dagami WarriorsResult Laguna Heroes 1 – 1(2 – 1) Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors

Grand finals Set North Division Team Points South Division Team1 San Juan Predators 8 – 13 Iloilo Kisela Knights2 San Juan Predators 9.5 – 11.5 Iloilo Kisela KnightsAggregate San Juan Predators 0 – 2 Iloilo Kisela Knights

Open Conference Foreign teams were eligible to compete as guests for this tournament. The conference was also known as the PCAP/San Miguel Corporation-Ayala Land Premier Cup due to sponsorship reasons. The San Juan Predators won the conference.

Teams The following are guest teams for the Open Conference.

Local guest teams CCE Sunrays Davao Executive Chess Society Pampanga Checkers Philippine national para chess team

Foreign guest teams Peng Cheng Dragons Penang Blue Panthers Team SinQGApore Double Bishop Bangkok

All-Star Game An All-Star Game was held on May 2, 2021 following the conclusion of the All Filipino Conference which was contested by selection teams representing the North and South Divisions. The composition of the teams were determined through vote by both fans and the league's players and coaches. The Northern All Stars won over their Southern counterparts through an Armageddon tiebreaker.

Set Team 1 Points Team 21 Northern All Stars 23 – 17 Southern All Stars2 Northern All Stars 19 – 23 Southern All StarsAggregate Northern All Stars 1 – 1(3 – 2) Southern All Stars

Awards Season MVP – Oliver Barbosa (San Juan) Mythical Seven Top-rated players Oliver Barbosa (San Juan) Jem Garcia (Caloocan) Lady player – Jan Jodilyn Fronda (San Juan) Senior player – Cris Ramayrat (Pasig / Manila) Homegrown players John Paul Gomez (Laguna) John Michael Silvederio (Iloilo) Fritz Bryan Porras (Iloilo) Team Sportsmanship Award – Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates

References