Ricardo de Guzman (born September 12, 1961) is a Filipino chess player. He was one of the premiere players of the Philippines in the 1980s and was awarded the title of International Master in 1982.[1] He is nationally ranked 39th in the Philippines, 22nd among active players. He reached a peak rating of 2439 but currently has a classical ELO rating of 2344, rapid rating of 2261 (peak rating was 2376 in January 2019) and blitz rating of 2363 (peak rating was 2405 in July 2014 – December 2018) per FIDE.[2]
Chess coach
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Chess career
Asian Junior Chess Championship
De Guzman won the prestigious Asian Junior Chess Championship in 1981 held at Dhaka, Bangladesh where he was awarded an outright IM title.[3] He actually finished in a tie with GM Niaz Murshed of Bangladesh but won the title based on a superior tiebreak as he had more wins than Murshed.[4]
Chess Olympiad
De Guzman participated in three (3) Olympiads:
23rd Chess Olympiad conducted at Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1978 where he played the 2nd Reserve Board as an unranked player. He contributed 1.0/5 winning 1 and losing 4 games for a 20.0% winning rate and 2028 Tournament Performance Rating (TPR). The team placed 24th in this edition of the Olympiad.[5]
26th Chess Olympiad held at Thessaloniki, Greece in 1984 where he played Board 3 and scored 4½ points in 8 games. He had 2 wins, 5 draws and 1 loss for a winning rate of 56.3% and a TPR of 2374 as compared to his 2355 ELO rating at that time. The team placed 16th in this Olympiad.[6]
30th Chess Olympiad held at Manila, Philippines in 1992 where he was Team Philippines' Board 4 player. He recorded 3 points out of 8 games registering 1 win, 4 draws and 3 losses for a low 37.5% winning rate with a TPR of 2257 as compared to his ELO rating of 2390. The team ended up in 31st place.[7]
He ended his Olympiad career with a 8½ points in 21 games, recording 4 wins, 9 draws and 8 losses for a winning rate of 40.5%.[8]
World Chess Championship
He participated in the World Chess Championship cycle 1998-1999 through the Zonal 3.2a held in Yangon, Myanmar in 1998 where he tied for 21st-25th places eventually copping 21st place after tiebreaks. He scored 3½ points in 9 games posting 2 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses where he had a 2162 TPR as against his ELO rating of 2400 at that time. It was not enough to qualify for the Interzonals held in 1999 at Las Vegas.[9][10]
He finished his stint in the Asian Team Chess Championship with an outstanding total of 22 points in 30 games posting 19 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses for a winning rate of 73.3% garnering 6 medals in total: 1 gold and 2 silvers in Individual Play and 2 golds and 1 silver in Team Competitions.[15]
In January 2002, de Guzman won the Bob Burger Open held on January 5, beating SM David Pruess and NM Michael Aigner.[16]
On January 17, 2004, de Guzman won the Bob Burger Open with a perfect score of 5/5.[17]
On January 9, 2010, de Guzman won the 10th Bob Burger Open conducted at the Mechanics Institute, San Francisco, California, USA where he scored 4.5/5.[18]
Other US tournaments
De Guzman won the 2004 Sacramento Chess Championship over the 4th of July weekend going undefeated and scoring 5.0/6 (4 wins and 2 draws).[19]
De Guzman won the 2010 Dolan Memorial International Chess tournament held in San Francisco, California on October 9, 2010.[20]
In 2014, de Guzman won the 5th Central California Open held from August 15–17, 2014 in Fresno, California after he scored 4.5/5.[21]
That year, De Guzman took part also in the US Class Championship, which took place from October 31 to November 2 in Santa Clara, California. He ended up in a tie for 2nd place with IM Sevillano both ending up with 4.5/6 and each earned US$803.00 in the tournament won by GM Cristian Chirila.[22]
De Guzman participated also in the 2014 North American Open won by SGM So with 8.0/9 (+7 =2 -0) held from December 26–30, 2014. He wound up in a tie for 37-47th places all with 4.5 points although he only played 8 games recording 3 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses.[23][24]
In 2015, de Guzman joined the 2nd Millionaire Chess Open held from October 8–12, 2015 and won by Super GM Wesley So of the US. He had a starting rank of 69 but placed 108 overall after scoring 3.5 points in 9 games recording 2 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses with a TPR of 2285 as against his 2374 ELO.[25]
National tournaments
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Asian Seniors 50+ Division
In the finals of the Asian Seniors 50+ division, de Guzman placed 4th overall in the tournament.[26][27]