Filipino FM Karlo Arca leads Bangkok Chess Open

Filipino FIDE Master Christian Gian Karlo Arca maintained a leading position in the 22nd Bangkok Chess Club Open after defeating British Grandmaster Stephen Gordon on Wednesday.

Arca, playing with the black pieces, won after 40 moves of the Chebanenko Slav variation to gain 4.0 points and share the lead with GM Babu MR Lalith of India and International Master Arif Abdul Hafiz of Indonesia.

The 16-year-old from Panabo City, Davao del Norte expressed satisfaction with his performance despite the challenging game against Gordon.

Other Filipino players like IM Michael Concio Jr. and IM Paolo Bersamina also secured strong performances, drawing their matches to score 3.5 points each.

Several top-ranked players including GM Evgeny Romanov of Macedonia, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, and Wei Yuyang of China are tied for the lead with Arca at 4.0 or 3.5 points.