INTERNATIONAL Masters Daniel Quizon and Jan Emmanuel Garcia pulled off contrasting results Thursday night to keep their stranglehold on the lead after three rounds of the Philippine National Chess Championships dubbed “Battle of the Grandmasters” at the Marikina Community Convention Center.
Quizon relied on his superior endgame technique in turning back Samson Chiu Chin Lim III in 64 moves of a Sicilian encounter while Garcia used the English Opening as a battering ram in dismantling Jerish John Velarde in 33 moves.
The pair of wins was the third straight for both Quizon and Garcia while building a one-point lead over the four-player group composed of Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna, FIDE Masters Christian Gian Karlo Arca and Mark Jay Bacojo, and GM John Paul Gomez.
Arca, a 14-year-old prodigy whose biggest triumph to date was his World Youth blitz conquest in Italy a month ago, continued to make heads turn as he drew with Frayna in 30 moves of a Three Knights duel.
Bacojo, 17, likewise stole some of the spotlight after he held Olympiad veteran Paulo Bersamina to a 67-move standoff of in their rock-solid Slav showdown while Gomez contented himself with a 26-move split with GM Darwin Laylo of yet another Slav game.
The other results of the round saw battle-scarred IM Barlo Nadera walloping WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego in 61 moves of a Benoni and GM Joey Antonio getting held to a stunning 68-move draw by Vince Angelo Medina of a Modern Defense.
Quizon and Garcia were eyeing to stay at the helm as they were battling Laylo and Nadera, respectively, in the fourth round at press time in this 13-round meet presented by Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodro and Congresswoman Maan Teodoro.
Three slots to next year’s World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary and the top purse worth P120,000 is being staked here courtesy of Marikina City, NCFP chairman president Prospero Pichay, Jr., POC president Abraham Tolentino, PSC chair Richard Bachmann, the Eugene Torre Chess Foundation, Pan de Amerikana’s Jundio Salvador.