By REYNALD MAGALLON
International Master Daniel Quizon’s historic title bid ended in disappointment after losing in the 11th and final round and settled in joint ninth place in the 2024 FIDE World Junior Chess Championships at the Radisson Gift City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India on Thursday, June 13.
The Olympic-bound World Cup veteran succumbed to Grandmaster Emin Ohanyan of Armenia after 40 moves of a Modern Defense — his first and only loss in the tournament — after recording five wins and five draws.
The defeat came at the worst time for the 20-year-old wunderkind, who kept himself within a shot at the juniors crown after getting a share of the top spot at the end of ninth round and staying within the Top 2 after 10 rounds.
A title win for Quizon in this tournament could have elevated his status to GM.
Quizon finished a full point behind IM Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan, who captured the title with 8.5 points after outplaying Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia in the last round.
The Kazakh actually finished tied with Ohanyan on top, but claimed the title and the outright GM title via superior tiebreak points.
GM Luka Budisavljevic of Serbia also got the better tiebreak points over GM Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia and IM Tobias Koelle of Germany to claim the bronze medal after the three finished with identical 8.0 points.
Although falling short of becoming the country’s first world junior champion, Quizon earned 9.0 points to boost his FIDE rating to 2457.
