Quizon takes down one Grandmaster after another, ties for gold in Abu Dhabi chess tilt

MANILA, Philippines -- To become a chess Grandmaster, one has to beat one in consistency.

And a mercurial Daniel Quizon did just that over the weekend when he ended up tied for first in the super-strong 30th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival in the United Arab Emirates.

There, the 20-year-old, Olympiad-bound Filipino International Master caught four GMs, including 10th seed Sunilduth Lyna Narayana of India whom the former slew in 51 moves of a slam bang King’s Indian showdown that catapulted him to a six-player tie at No. 1 with seven points.

While Quizon eventually wound up sixth after tiebreaks were applied, there was an air that the reigning Philippine champion had struck gold as he wound up with a performance rating equal to super-GM level — 2749.

Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev took first while GM David Paravyan of FIDE, Uzbek GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca and top seed Iranian GM M. Amin Tabatabaei were second to fifth, respectively.

In all, Quizon faced six GMs, won against four and lost against two, that earned him 33.3 points, which shoved him to 2490.3 from 2457 more than a week ago or just around 10 away from touching the 2500 level and claiming an automatic GM title.

That moment could happen in Budapest, Hungary where he will join the national team wading into battle in the 45th World Chess Olympiad scheduled Sept. 10 to 22.

“Siyempre po sobrang saya ko kasi konti na lang matutupad na po yung pangarap ko maging GM,” said Quizon.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines lauded the Dasmariñas bet for his feat.

“Congratulations to him. NCFP chairman/president Cong. (Butch) Pichay is really delighted with his performance, very impressive,” said NCFP CEO and national coach GM Jayson Gonzales.

“Hopefully, tuloy-tuloy ang kanyang galing up to the Olympiad,” he added.