Daniel Quizon bags chess crown via tiebreak

MANILA, Philippines — Daniel Quizon battled Neil Chester Reyes and escaped with a draw and then edged Eric Labog Jr. via tiebreak to rule the premier boys’ 17-under division of the 2019 National Youth and Schools Chess Championship at the Batangas State University in Batangas City Monday night.

Quizon, 15, and Labog actually ended tied for first with 7.5 points apiece but the former, who is based from Dasmarinas, Cavite, had a superior tiebreak, 51-50.5, to claim a spot in Phl team seeing action in the 14th Eastern Asia Youth Championship 2019 set Aug. 1-10 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Labog, a Perpetual Help standout, had a chance to snatch the title with a victory but was denied after he was held to a draw by Michael Concio Jr., who happens to be a buddy of Quizon, and settled for second.

Quizon got the chance to defend the title he won in last year’s edition in Gangneung, South Korea where he also earned his IM title.

The recent feat added another chapter to Quizon’s growing legend after finishing 16th and the best-placed Filipino in the ultra-competitive blitz event of the Asian Continental Chess Championship in Xingtai, China just last week.

He highlighted his effort by claiming the scalps of three Grandmasters and drawing with two more.

In the past few months, he beat GMs Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio and came half-a-point away from obtaining his second GM result but fell short of his drive, settling for a top 20 finish in the HD Bank event in Vietnam.