The 20-yesr-old Filipino chess wizard Daniel Quizon. (Photo from Manila Magazine)
It was in 1974, when a 22-year-old Eugene Torre became a Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE, International Chess Federation) grandmaster by winning the silver medal at the 21st Chess Olympiad in Nice, France.
Torre’s achievement made him the first Asian and non-Soviet player to earn the title and since has become the country’s inspiration in chess. And now, a Filipino wonder kid is following his footsteps.
Two years younger than Asia’s first GM, Daniel Quizon has been listed among Forbes Magazine’s ’30 under 30′ in Asia and as such, the youthful 20-year-old lad from Dasmariñas, Cavite is currently one of the rapidly rising chess prodigies in the world.
Quizon became the Philippines’ latest grandmaster after he breached the 2500-ELO rating barrier by defeating the Azerbaijan-born Monegasque GM Igor Efimov (ELO rating 2540) in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympian in Hungary in September last year.
In its article on the Filipino wizkid, Forbes acclaimed Quizon having a FIDE rating of 2461 in standard chess, 2317 in rapid and 2394 in blitz: “(He) has been the reigning Philippine Chess Champion since 2021. He was undefeated in the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships 2023 and dominated the Hanoi Grandmaster Chess Tournament in March 2024.”
Quizon is the 17th Filipino chess GM
Published September 18, 2024 4:15pm
Daniel Quizon became the 17th chess grandmaster (GM), the latest after Oliver Barbosa and Richard Bitoon achieved the said rank in 2011.
For his feat, he will be receiving a ₱1 million cash incentive from Dasmariñas City mayor Jennifer ‘Jenny’ Austria-Barzaga in fulfillment of the solemn promise of her late husband, Dasmariñas congressman Elpidio ‘Pidi’ Barzaga Jr., before he passed away.
In 2021, Quizon qualified to play in the Chess World Cup 2021, where he was defeated by Russian-Canadian GM Evgeny Bareev (ELO 2739) in the first round, 1.5-0.5. Two years late, he bounced back, winning the AQ Prime ASEAN Chess Championship and earning a GM norm. That same year in June, he earned his second norm after he went unbeaten at the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
Last year on March 31, Quizon went on defeated Nguyễn Anh Dũng (ELO 2470) to win the Hanoi Grandmaster Chess Tournament in Vietnam. Quizon then earned his final grandmaster norm on September 14, 2024 at the expense of GM Efimov in Hungary.