Teen Quizon upsets GM Laylo, keeps National Chess Open lead

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Teen sensation Daniel Quizon kept the lead after a third-round conquest of Grandmaster Darwin Laylo in the 2021 Philippine National Chess Championship Grand Finals at Solea Hotel and Resort in Mactan, Cebu.

The 17-year-old chess whiz  from Dasmariñas City, Cavite clashes with the country’s lone woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna next in the fourth round on Saturday, December 11, hoping to sustain a three-game roll also made at the expense of fellow International Masters John Marvin Miciano and Joel Pimentel.

Quizon’s third-round triumph after 49 moves of the Ruy Lopez was huge, considering that Laylo won the competition twice in 2004 and 2006.

Youthful Paulo Bersamina and fellow IM in veteran campaigner Ricky de Guzman shared the second spot with 2.5 points each.

GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr., the oldest participant at 59 and the winningest with 13 national open jewels under his name, improved to 1.5 points in the company of IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Ronald Dableo and WGM Frayna.

Seeking for his 14th crown, Antonio lost to Bersamina in the opener of the 12-man round-robin affair organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) which stakes a berth to the national squad bound for the 2023 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Thailand.

The FIDE-rated, over-the-board contest also dangles an P80,000 top purse for the champion.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Mactan Open Chess Championships held at same venue saw Don Tyrone delos Santos and local boy Anthony Makinano winning over Antonio Chavez Jr. and Carlo Magno Rosaupan, respectively, to jointly take the lead at 3 points apiece.

This, as the top-seeded Johnnel Balquin was held to a draw by Cagayan de Oro compatriot Alfredo Rapanot that relegates both of them in a big bunch of 2.5 pointers. – Rappler.com