The Letran chess team wasted no time during the offseason as they sharpened their skills and conditioned their minds to make sure they’re armed with the right moves for the NCAA Season 93 chess tournament which will open on August 6 at the Lyceum of the Philippines University.
The team faced a lot of adversities in the past in which they struggled to make any podium finish in the last three seasons. Admittedly, team captain Marco Jay Mabasa said their continuous training sessions and preparations will fully equip them to turn that around this time.
“Medyo masakit para sa amin ‘yun (not able to notch a podium finish). So kailangan maging active kami sa tournament and kailangan iwas stress,” said Mabasa, adding, “Walang ibang iniisip, kailangan ng matinding focus sa work, more on training, tapos kailangan well-conditioned talaga.”
The team joined several offseason tournaments which Mabasa believed helped condition themselves. But the third-year Marketing Management major quickly admitted that the NCAA would not be an easy road because they will face smarter and tougher players.
“Iba kasi talaga ‘yung pressure sa NCAA,” Mabasa said.
Last season, the seniors’ team had a subpar performance in the tourney, exiting early due to some missing pieces in its roster. The juniors’ team, however, was able to nullify that by claiming the overall chess crown for its division. The achievement by the younger team, though, had given the senior counterpart extra motivation to improve further this year.
“Iisa kami nagtu-tulungan so achievement na rin samin ‘yun,” he said. “Pero sa likod nun medyo masakit pa rin samin kumbaga kasi kaya naman sana kaso ‘di kami well-conditioned lahat. Hindi naging maganda, hindi balance,” he explained.
Head coach Roland Perez, according to Mabasa, pushed the team in putting extra effort on training sessions while also requiring them to read chess books during their spare time to improve their analytical and critical thinking skills.
“Dinagdagan lang namin ‘yung training, kumbaga pinahirapan namin ‘yung sarili namin para ma-expand ‘yung utak namin,” he said.