International Master Daniel Quizon opted to play it safe and drew with veteran IM Ricky de Guzman in just 23 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined to remain on top after eight rounds of the 2021 Philippine National Chess Championships at the Solea Hotel and Resort in Mactan, Cebu on Monday.
Less than a day after escaping with a draw from a hopelessly losing position to unrated Allan Pason, Quizon played a little timid and cautiously forced his way to a standoff with De Guzman to keep his grip on the lead with seven points.
It kept the World Cup vet unflappable at No. 1 with a 1.5-point lead over No. 2 IM Ronald Dableo, who also ended up with a truce against IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia in 31 moves of a King’s Indian encounter.
Dableo supplanted De Guzman at No. 2 after pulling the rug from under top seed IM Paulo Bersamina with a masterful 30-move triumph of a King’s Indian Attack in the seventh round Sunday.
The GM candidate and University of Santo Tomas coach had actually scored 3.5 points in the last four rounds after drawing his first four outings to pile up a total of 5.5 points.
And while he still trails Quizon by 1.5 points, Dableo has a legitimate title chance since they would only tackle each other in the 11th and last round Tuesday in this 12-player event bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission chaired by William Ramirez, JEEP, CCLEX, Metro Pacific Tollways, Alin Cargo, PCSO and RiChess Masters.
At joint third in this meet backed by POC president Bambol Tolentino, NCFP president Butch Pichay, PCSO general manager Royina Garma, Chess Movement, Inc. chair Ariel Potot and Atty. Roel Canobas with five points apiece were De Guzman and Grandmaster Darwin Laylo.
Laylo caught up with De Guzman after a 36-move win over Pason of a Queen’s Gambit duel for the round’s lone win.
The rest were draws by GM Joey Antonio with IM Joel Pimentel, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna versus IM Michael Concio, Jr., and Bersamina against IM John Marvin Miciano.
The winner here pockets the champion’s purse of P80,000 and a berth to the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games next year and 2023 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand.