WUNDERKIND Daniel Quizon kept his crown as Philippine rapid chess king as he completed a three-peat feat in the strong third Kamatyas FIDE rated rapid tournament at the SM Sucat over the weekend.
The 17-year-old Quizon drew with IM Ronald Dableo in the ninth and final round and finished with eight points out of the possible nine to crown himself champion for the third straight time in as many editions this year.
For his feat, the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games silver medalist pocketed the top purse worth P30,000 and the beautifully crafted trophy courtesy of David Almirol, Jr., founder and CEO of software engineering solutions provider Multisys Technologies Corp. and organizing Kamatyas Chess Club head IM Roderick Nava.
FIDE Master David Elorta downed FM Nelson Mariano III to seal second while Dableo wound up at third to take the cash purse worth P10,000 and P7,000, respectively.
Rounding up the top 10 were Kevin Arquero, FM Roel Abelgas, IM Angelo Young, Grandmaster Joey Antonio, Nouri, Remark Bartolome and Leonel Escote with IM Chito Garma (senior), Johann Cedrick Gaddi (varsity), Paul Matthew Llanillo (junior), Francois Magpily (lady) and Marlon Bernardino (media) as category winners.
The tournament is one of its kind as it not only FIDE-rated and awards one of the biggest prizes in the country today, it also gives hefty appearance fees to the country’s top masters to encourage them to see action and help develop the young and aspiring players. — Joey Villar