By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
International Master Daniel Quizon stunned 10th seed Grandmaster Sunilduth Lyna Narayana of India in the ninth and final round to finish tied for first in the 30th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, Aug. 24.
The 20-year-old Quizon brought down Narayana after 51 moves of a King’s Indian duel to end up at the helm with five others with seventh points apiece.
The reigning national champion, however, wound up sixth after tiebreaks were computed with GM Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan claiming first place and GM David Paravyan and another Uzbek in GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov claiming second and third, respectively.
Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca and top seed Iranian GM M. Amin Tabatabaei ended up fourth and fifth, respectively.
Still, the feat was a morale boost for Quizon, who is part of the Philippine team competing in the 45th World Chess Olympiad happening on Sept. 10 to 23 in Budapest, Hungary.
It also bolstered his rating after accumulating 33.3 points, improving from 2457 to 2490.3 — less than 10 points away from breaking the 2500 plateau and earning an outright GM title.
It was a tough tournament as far as Quizon was concerned, having faced six GMs and winning four matches from them.
Overall, he wound up with seven wins and two losses.
