“Happy … satisfied …and very satisfied,” said the chess players who winded up with silver again on February 21 at the University of Antique, one of the venues of the national SCUAA games.
Kirk Aia Cuizon, Daniel Lorenzo Miñoza and Junry Romero shared to ICPA how great it was for them bring home the medals despite ending in the same spot as last year.
Clearly, they had no regrets with what they had achieved. But they look forward to something bigger next year as Cuizon said they need to “aim high for the gold medal.”
Round two and three were the crucial rounds among five as observed by the team. By the final round, they felt they still had successfully defended their position despite falling short in the third round.
One of them shared how chess is a reflection of life, where solutions to obstacles are also sought to win.
Evaluating strengths of opponents as well is necessary as what another member shared to ICPA so one would not underestimate the former. Positive thinking also counts.
As a team, they said it’s their pleasure to have given region 7 a good performance.
Without coach Mary Joy Alit, Cuizon and members initially had some sort of an adjustment. However, they appreciated coach Alit’s representative for his way of motivating the team and assisting them always.
Being monitored of their scores [ because of a good start and record last year] by other teams, they believed they were considered threats in the competition.
With their consistent performance, one member spoke, “It would linger in their minds that region 7 has also the capacity.”
More so, it would be best justified with what CTU Carmen player uttered, “Without patience one cannot play chess.”
Pone, rook, knight and queen were some of their best chess pieces, which exemplify all the characteristics of a team that wins. ICPA