Taking advantage of the missteps of his opponents on the board, the Computer Studies (CS) Chameleons outflanked the School of Nursing (SON) Panthers to bring home the gold for this year’s Palarong Atenista Men’s Chess competition. 

Even with the lack of preparation time, CS Chameleon Carlton Lance Diaz relied on his positional understanding, strategizing carefully to corner and capture the opposing king.

“‘Di pa ako well-prepared papunta dito kay mag-exam pa ako ganon. Di pa ako confident going into this tournament. Try ko lang experience ko na na-learn ko dati because first time ko manalo [sa] tournament,” Diaz revealed.

After a tactical blunder in round 7, he steadily waited for a window of opportunity to open after six moves, seizing the piece of SON Panthers’ Patrick Antonio. 

“Round 7 is pinaka-nervous dahil ang nangyari sa round 7 is matalo dapat ako, pero nanalo ako… It means na-survive ko. I had a huge blunder, sa isip ko ‘oops, di na ako manalo,’ accept ko nalang tapos after six moves narealize ko meron pa chance then take ko then win,” he admitted.

Despite lagging behind from the earlier rounds, Diaz mounted a counterattack in the final round, securing his 6.5 points out of 9 rounds to earn the podium.

“Going round 9, I have to win the last round to score 6.5. I have [the] chance to win 1st or 2nd because SS was still leading. They had to lose in order for me to win the whole tournament. So, it’s a miracle lang.” 

The Social Sciences (SS) Dragons took silver with 6 points, while Accountancy (ACC) Griffins placed bronze after tallying 5 points.

The tournament was held at F213, Finster Building, on September 28.