Accountancy (ACC) Griffins brought  their cluster victory as they scored a 6-0 win against other clusters in the chess tournament for both men’s and women’s divisions during this year’s Palarong Atenista.

First-year students and Ateneo de Davao University Chess Varsity Team members Lamont Alexander Baptista and Jaem Roseane Escape triumphed over the rest of their competitors in a one-sided match from start to finish. 

“I think I had an edge against my opponents because I think I have more experience, and most of them are really new to me, and I think I haven’t faced them in the tournaments here in Davao,” Baptista said.

Escape remarked similarly, saying one of her advantages during the game was that she had been playing chess for almost 10 years. 

“My opponents here, magaling din talaga sila, so bawal magkumpyansa kahit sabihin na ilang years na ang experience,” Escape added.

When asked about their strategies for the game, Baptista shared that he is more of an attacking player and surely but slowly exploiting the blunders of his opponents. For Escape, she switches from attack to defense every now and then while similarly watching out for the competing cluster’s oversight.

“It is like a waiting game; I just play and wait for my opponent to make a wrong move, and then that’s my time,” said Escape.

Baptista also shared his game plan for both white and black pieces and the openings he used throughout the match.

“For the white pieces, I’m kind of focused on the Italian opening, so I’m more of an E4 and more on open lines. As black, if the white pieces will go to D4, I’m just going to play D5, and if E4, I will play D6. That’s the French defense, it’s my favorite defense for the black pieces.”

Among the four remaining clusters for the finals round of both men’s and women’s divisions, the ACC Griffins and School of Engineering and Architecture Tigers rivaled for gold. At the same time, Computer Science Chameleons played against Humanities and Letters x School of Education x Natural Sciences and Mathematics Pegasus for the bronze title, with the latter clinching the award in a close 2-1 escape.