UZBEKISTANI-American Grandmaster Timur Gareyev, at 2553 by far the top-seeded in the 224-man field, looked like the real winner the way he performed throughout the nine-round Fide-rated rapid chess tournament.
But fate intervened, making the young Filipino International Master Michael Concio Jr. the champion in the 3rd Governor Henry S. Oaminal Open Chess Festival, which concluded on Tuesday night, November 5, at the Asenso Misamis Occidental Sports and Cultural Center, Capitol Complex in Oroquieta City.
The 19-year-old Concio, from Laguna province and a product of the famed Dasmariñas Chess Academy in Cavite, played the spoiler role when playing black. He held the world’s blindfolded chess king Gareyev to a fighting draw in the seventh round.
“I pushed myself to my limits, as I kept on attacking him but he defended well,” later said Gareyev.
Gareyev’s tactical genius, especially in handling the Bishop pair, he unleashed with authority in the last two rounds when he mowed down the 13-time Philippine Open champion GM Rogelio Antonio Jr and Fide Master Ellan Asuela in succession with master-class precision in handling the relentless whirlwind assault.
But the problem was that Concio also hurdled his last two game assignments against the face of Philippine chess today, newly minted 20-year-old Grandmaster Daniel Quizon and FM Austin Jacob Literatus, to finish in a tie with Gareyev at 8.5 points.
Gareyev earlier strung up five-straight wins over Hezziel Alcebar, Janmyl Dilan Tisado, Aljie Cantonjos, Sherwin Tiu, and National Master Raymond Salcedo, and so Concio against Rogelio Andoy, Bonn Rainauld Tibod, FM Roel Abelgas, International Master Angelo Young and Jayson Salubre before their drawn match in the pivotal 7th round.
In Gareyev’s proposal, according to tournament organizer Rey Urbiztondo, the Armageddon blitz showdown must be held to break the tie.
Initially, the former US Open champion Gareyev won the favor via the tossed coin wherein the once tormentor of super GM Alireza Firouzja (2804) who used to be in the elite level with 2682 elo ratings, chose to have the black pieces with five minutes against Concio’s white with six minutes and no increment.
Needing just a draw, Gareyev countered Concio’s d4 with Nf6 leading the Armaggedon blitz duel to the main line of the Nimzo Indian defense.
In contrast to Gareyev’s previous matches in the Governor Oaminal-backed tourney, it was Concio instead who owned the Bishop pair when the fast-paced game reached the middlegame.
And playing with less time, Gareyev blundered in a tactical melee where he resigned after facing a one-piece down situation, thereby letting Concio run away with the P100,000 top purse and the championship trophy.
“We both gave a good fight, but I was time-pressured. In Armaggedon, you have to play fast and precise,” humbly said Gareyev who took the runner-up prize of P60,000.
Failing to cross paths with the foreign visitor in the entire tournament regulation, GM Quizon edged out fellow 7.5 pointers Sherwin Tiu, IM Rolando Nolte, and local boy Rodney Opada in the Bucholz tiebreaker to bag the third place worth 40,000.
Tiu, Nolte, and Asuela occupied fourth to 6th place with P20,000, P10,000 and P6,000 take-home, respectively.
Completing the top-10 finishers with P4,000 each are IM Joel Pimentel Jr, GM Darwin Laylo, Literatus, and Antonio.
