By Jean Malanum
MANILA – Filipino FIDE Master Christian Gian Karlo Arca stunned top seed German Super Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson Tuesday night to keep his share of the lead in the 22nd Bangkok Chess Club Open at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel in Thailand.
Arca, playing the white pieces, prevailed over two-time champion Gustafsson (ELO 2601) after 39 moves of a Reti Opening.
“I hope I can sustain my good performance so I can possibly get an IM norm or GM norm,” said Arca, who has an ELO rating of 2250.
The 16-year-old from Panabo City, Davao del Norte is the youngest in the National Training Pool.
IM Michael Concio Jr. downed CM Benhood Delavari of Iran while IM Paulo Bersamina beat compatriot Marc Kevin Labog to join Arca on top of the standings with 3.0 points, along with GM Evgeny Romanov of Macedonia, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy of Ukraine, IM James Morris of Australia, GM Stephen Gordon of England, IM Arif Abdul Hafiz of Indonesia, Wei Yuyang of China, GM Babu MR Lalith of India and FM Alexander Chernyavsky of Russia.
Meanwhile, Filipinos WNM Arvie Lozano, John Paul De Guzman and Remark Bartolome remained perfect after three rounds to share the lead with Zwe Wait Yan Lin of Myanmar, Tran Nguyen Dang Koa of Vietnam, Azzamy Khalid Shafwan of Indonesia and Nikolay Gutsulyak of Russia in the Challenger category.
Filipino Almario Marlon Quiroz Bernardino Jr. beat Peerathat Asvahem of Thailand for his second win in three outings. (PNA)
