Quizon nears Grandmaster status after unbeaten ASEAN+ chess tilt run

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino International Master Daniel Quizon is getting closer to his dream Grandmaster title.

Quizon, 19, has earned the third and last required norm following his golden performance in the premier Open Under-20 standard division of the 21st ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.

There, the World Cup and Southeast Asian Games veteran went undefeated with 7.5 points on six wins and three draws out of the possible nine while earning a tournament performance rating of 2470, or good enough for a GM result.

It was Quizon’s third norm after his first two from the Eastern Asian and AQ Prime events.

The last norm, however, would still need the final stamp of approval from FIDE before it could become official.

If it gets the nod, Quizon, whose current FIDE rating is 2413, would need to reach the 2500-rating plateau to barge into the country’s elite GM club that includes Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre.

And to make it a double celebration, Quizon capped his sterling effort by ruling the blitz section over the weekend.

Quizon actually wound up tied for first with countryman IM Michael Cioncio, Jr. with 7.5 points apiece but ended up with the higher tiebreak score to claim the crown — his second in Bangkok.