OZAMIZ City ― The Battle of Philippine Chess Champions, since its debut here in 2023, finally produced a grandmaster for the crowning glory.
And how dramatic it was, the icebreaker was delivered by the oldest player in the 10-man field on Saturday's opening of the cash-rich 5th Asenso Ozamiz Fide-Rated Open Chess Tournament at the City Gymnasium here.
"Sinuwerte lang ang gaan sa pag-iisip if we don’t expect laro at enjoy lang. Of course, I have nothing to prove matanda na tayo kaya’t binigay ko na lang and best ko playing without pressure,” said the 63-year-old 13-time Philippine Open champion GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. in a casual talk with Gold Star Daily.
"Nakakapagod kagagaling lang sa Malaysia kaya’t hindi na ako sumali sa simultaneous display ng mga masters,” he added.
After pulling out an impressive 4-0 start, Antonio suffered his lone defeat at the hands of the country’s youngest GM in reigning Philippine Open champion Daniel Quizon, 20, from the famed Dasmariñas Chess Academy.
But Antonio, just returning from a fruitful campaign in Penang, Malaysia where he won eight medals for the country, including 4 golds in the men's 50+ category of the 23rd Asean+Age Group Chess Championships in Penang, Malaysia, swept the remaining four rounds of the round-robin event, using the Armageddon blitz time control of six minutes for white and five minutes for black with no increment.
He dramatically capped his big run with another victory over fellow Grandmaster Darwin Laylo, despite being almost defaulted for coming in late in the last round.
Garnering eight points, Antonio claimed the gold medal and the P25,000 top purse.
Christian Gian Karlo Arca, the 16-year-old Fide Master from Panabo City, defeated national junior champion FM Michael Concio Jr in the final round to finish with seven points and seized the silver and the runner-up prize of P18,000.
The third-running Concio, the reigning Ozamiz Open champion, edged out fellow six-pointers GM Daniel Quizon and International Master Rolando Nolte to receive the bronze worth P12,000.
Quizon and Nolte settled for P9,000 and P6,000 each.
The rest of the participants, occupying six to 10, are IM Kim Steven Yap (four pts), Laylo (three pts), IM Ronald Bancod (two pts), Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna (two pts), and Woman Fide Master Ruelle Canino (one pt).
