CAH’s Chess supremacy
Jehan D. Fuentes
Veni, Vidi Vici.
Just like how relentless Julius Caesar was in building the personal army he desired at a young age, the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH) Chess enthusiasts work strenuously to protect their king piece.
The CAH’s board conquest started in 2019, far beyond the restrictions of the pandemic. Although they were partnered with the College of Medical and Biological Sciences (CMBS) under the cluster Slytherin, and in the sudden shift to a virtual board where they represented the Controller cluster along with the College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA), College of Human Environmental Sciences and Food Studies (CHEFS), and the College of Nursing (CN) in 2020, and the Ravaging Canines together with the College of Accounting and Business Education (CABE) and the College of Computer Studies (CCS) in 2021, the CAH Chess players dominated both the last face-to-face intramural and the league held using the online platform. In three years, the College bagged a total of four individual championships and three overall Chess titles.
“I think we are the only team to able to do this in the post-modern era of our school,” said Sir Eugene Nicolas Saño, the CAH’s Chess coach. He was once the coach of the Kickball in 2018 as he is also a soccer enthusiast, but shifted his focus on the board game in 2020.
“Our team won both the Male and Female Category in 2019. In 2020–2021, we have the same team and players who performed well to defend the title and to achieve the goal that we wanted to. Indeed, they won in the Chess Male Category in 2020, and the Female Category in the following year,” he added.
The current Female Category Chess champion is a 21-year-old Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies’ third-year student, in the person of Rhea Mae Vanessa Tuazon. Her journey started in Grade Four, where her father and teacher assisted her in every board phase. Oblivious at a young age, she was ecstatic to represent her school in Chess events.
A student-athlete is bound to receive criticisms and demotivation, she revealed that there were times when she secretly cry every time she lost a game. Her passion and constant desire to sit in front of the Chess board fueled her to continue what she started.
“Sometimes, you have to lose to learn. I always motivate myself not to think about what other people will say whenever I lose a game because they don’t know what I went through before learning the game of Chess,” Tuazon shared.
Tuazon is grateful for everyone who lends their trust and support as she moves down the path of protecting the king piece in a Chess board game. As she closes her 12 year-board journey, she will surely apply the tactics she has learned as she continues her journey of being an adult.
Just like how Caesar strategized his tactics to win a battle, the CAH Chess player systematized their pieces’ moves to dominate in the virtual Chess board.
Veni, Vidi Vici — Indeed, CAH came, they saw, and then they conquered.