FEU nears first-round sweep in UAAP chess

Defending men's champion Far Eastern University (FEU) scored similar easy wins over separate foes to move closer to a first-round sweep in the 73rd UAAP chess tournament at the FEU Technology Building in Manila. The FEU woodpushers downed National University, 3.5-0.5, then pulled off a 3-1 decision against Ateneo as the Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales-mentored squad improved its record to 19.5 points. "We're happy to win all our six matches so far. We'll definitely go for a sweep of our first-round assignments this weekend," said Gonzales, whose well-planned chess development program enables FEU to keep a talented pool of players over the years. FEU is hoping to win a fifth straight men's crown. It has also defeated University of Santo Tomas (3.5-0.5), University of the Philippines (3.5-0.5), La Salle (3.5-0.5), and Adamson (2.5-1.5). FEU will face second-running University of the East (14 points) for its last match in the first round on Saturday. In the women's division, La Salle also tightened its grip on the top spot with 19.5 points after a 4-0 blanking of NU to remain 3.5 points ahead of UST. FEU is also on top in the juniors division after beating 2009 champion Adamson (2.5-1.5) and UE (3-1). The FEU junior woodpushers have tallied 15.5 points entering the final round. NU, which dumped UST (3.5-0.5) and drew with Adamson (2-2), climbed to solo second with 14 points. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV