International Master (IM) Paulo Bersamina defeated Grandmaster (GM) Daniel Quizon to gain a share of the lead in the Philippine National Open Chess Championship Grand Finals Thursday night at Alicia Community Center in Alicia, Isabela.
Bersamina claimed victory after 23 moves of a Center-Counter duel to create a four-way tie with IM Ricky de Guzman and qualifiers Alexis Emil Maribao and Samson Chiu Chin Lim at the start of event which offers a slot in the Philippine team for next year’s Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
De Guzman prevailed over Phil Martin Casiguran in 62 moves of a London System; Maribao downed Vince Angelo Medina in 47 moves of a Pirc Defense; and Lim dismantled FIDE Master Mark Jay Bacojo’s English Opening in 45 moves.
In other matches, GMs John Paul Gomez and Joey Antonio split the point in 14 moves of a Ruy Lopez, while IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Joel Banawa settled for a draw after 30 moves of a Gruenfeld Defense.
The 11-round tournament, organized by the National Chess
Federation of the, offers a total of P388,000 in cash prizes.
The champion will receive PHP120,000 while the second and third placers will get PHP90,000 and PHP60,000, respectively.
Running simultaneously is the National Youth and School Chess Championships for Under 11, 13, 15 and 17 boys and girls and the Philippine National Children Chess Championships for U8 and U10.
NCFP chief executive officer GM Jayson Gonzales said the category winners will compete in the Asian Schools Chess Championships on Dec. 1 to 11, also in Bangkok.
Source: Philippines News agency
