University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University headlined a dominant showing across divisions as the UAAP Season 88 Blitz Chess Championships wrapped up its elimination rounds on Saturday at the Adamson Gym.
In the men’s division, University of Santo Tomas emerged as the top seed after finishing with 10 match points, powered by a commanding run that included a 4–0 sweep of Adamson University and a crucial 2.5–1.5 victory over De La Salle University.
Far Eastern University secured the second seed with seven match points after closing strong with a 3.5–0.5 rout of the University of the Philippines in the final round, following a 2–2 draw with La Salle in Round 4.
De La Salle University also finished with seven match points to claim the third seed despite late setbacks, while Ateneo de Manila University completed the Final Four cast in fourth place after a 3–1 win over UP and a 2.5–1.5 victory over Adamson in the closing rounds.
The crossover semifinals will pit top-seeded UST against Ateneo, while La Salle takes on FEU in the other Final Four pairing.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
In the women’s division, Far Eastern University dominated the field with 13 match points to secure the top seed, highlighted by back-to-back 4–0 sweeps of UP and Adamson and a strong 3.5–0.5 win over La Salle to close the eliminations.
De La Salle University finished second with 11 match points, buoyed by key wins earlier in the tournament, while National University secured the third seed with nine match points after consistent, dominant sweeps.
Ateneo completed the Final Four cast in fourth with eight match points, narrowly edging out UST, which also finished with eight but missed the semifinals due to tiebreaks.
The women’s semifinals will see top-seeded FEU face Ateneo, while La Salle battles National University in the other matchup.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
In the high school boys’ division, University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University–Diliman set up a championship clash after finishing as the only two teams to advance to the gold medal round.
UST’s Junior Male Woodpushers completed an undefeated elimination run with 10 match points, capped by a 3–1 win over FEU-Diliman in the final round to secure the top seed.
FEU-Diliman earned the second finals berth with eight match points despite a bye in the penultimate round and a Round 5 loss to UST. Adamson University settled for the bronze medal.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
On the girls’ side, Far Eastern University–Diliman and University of Santo Tomas emerged as the top two seeds after finishing tied with nine match points, with FEU-Diliman claiming the top spot via tiebreak.
FEU-Diliman capped its campaign with consecutive 4–0 sweeps of De La Salle Zobel and Ateneo High School, while UST matched that surge with dominant wins over National University Nazareth School and Adamson University.
National University Nazareth School and Adamson University completed the Final Four cast with six and four match points, respectively.
The semifinals will feature NUNS against UST and Adamson against FEU-Diliman, with the finals for both high school divisions scheduled later in the day.
