TARAKAN, INDONESIA — Jayson Gonzales is the Philippines newest chess grandmaster.
Gonzales formally earned the elusive GM title during the inaugural leg of the ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit near East Kalimantan here.
The veteran campaigner from Libon, Albay actually dropped his 10th and penultimate round match against IM Ashot Nadanian of Armenia, but earned his third and last GM norm by virtue of the 7/9 FIDE rule.
"I’m very happy for this achievement. Matagal ko nang pangarap ito at salamat sa Diyos nakuha ko na," Gonzales, a mainstay of the multi-titled Philippine Army and the V.Luna Chess Club, said.
Officially, Gonzales became the country’s ninth GM — and third in the last five months.
He joins the elite GM circle which also include Eugene Torre (1974), the late Rosendo Balinas (1976), Rogelio Antonio Jr. (1998) , Buenaventura "Bong " Villamayor (2000), Nelson Mariano (2004), Mark Paragua (2005), Darwin Laylo (2007) and Wesley So (2007).
Against Nadanian, Gonzales went all-out for the win before yielding in 74 moves of the King’s Indian Defense.
"Sayang. I missed the winning line against Nadanian, tapos natalo pa. Double celebration na sana," explained Gonzales, who earned his first two GM norms in the Calvia Open in Calvia, Spain in 2004 and the Asian Zonal eliminations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2005.
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