College of Saint Benilde's John Michael Magpily bested University of Perpetual Help System Dalta's Genesis Mateo Borromeo to progress to the seniors' quarterfinals of the 96th NCAA online chess tournament Wednesday.
With the victory, Magpily arranged an all-Blazers' quarterfinals duel with Adrian Othniel Yulo for a spot in the semifinals Friday.
Also advancing to the top eight are Letran's Nel Richmond Miranda, Perpetual's Carl Sirex Sato, Arellano University's Carl Ancheta, Jose Rizal University's Avel Baldovia, Lyceum of the Philippines University's Neymark Digno and Mapua's John Paolo Gaspar Medina.
Action in the quarterfinals begins Thursday with Miranda and Sato battling to stay in the gold medal chase.
The semis is also a knockout affair, where the winners go to the Finals, while the losers will play for the bronze medal.
Mapua's Stephen Von Estavillo, John Paolo Gaspar Medina and Christian Roche Thompson, LPU's Adrian Basil Basilgo, Letran's Joshua Berdadero, Emilio Aguinaldo College's John Dominic Santos and Perpetual's Romeo Canino were among who made it past the eliminations.
Games in the eliminations and the Round of 16 were played for 10 minutes only, while each player has 15 minutes for the semifinals and the battle for third. The final match will give 20 minutes to each competitor.
