Filipino FIDE Master Christian Gian Arca(left) against Super Grandmaster Jan Gustaffson in the third round of the Bangkok Chess Club Open at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel in Thailand on Tuesday (April 15, 2025). Arca won in 39 moves of the Reti Opening. (Contributed photo)
Filipino FIDE Master Christian Gian Karlo Arca pulled off a major upset Tuesday night by defeating top-seeded German Super Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson in the 22nd Bangkok Chess Club Open, held at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel in Thailand.
Arca, wielding the white pieces, outplayed the two-time champion Gustafsson (ELO 2601) in 39 moves using the Reti Opening.
“I hope I can sustain this performance and work toward earning an IM or GM norm,” said the 16-year-old Arca, who currently holds an ELO rating of 2250.
The Panabo City, Davao del Norte native is the youngest member of the Philippine National Training Pool.
Joining Arca at the top of the leaderboard with 3.0 points are fellow Filipinos IM Michael Concio Jr., who defeated Iran’s CM Benhood Delavari, and IM Paulo Bersamina, who bested compatriot Marc Kevin Labog. Also in the lead group are GM Evgeny Romanov (Macedonia), GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (India), GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (Ukraine), IM James Morris (Australia), GM Stephen Gordon (England), IM Arif Abdul Hafiz (Indonesia), Wei Yuyang (China), GM Babu MR Lalith (India), and FM Alexander Chernyavsky (Russia).
In the Challenger division, Filipinos WNM Arvie Lozano, John Paul De Guzman, and Remark Bartolome stayed perfect after three rounds, sharing the lead with Zwe Wait Yan Lin (Myanmar), Tran Nguyen Dang Koa (Vietnam), Azzamy Khalid Shafwan (Indonesia), and Nikolay Gutsulyak (Russia).
Meanwhile, Filipino player Almario Marlon Quiroz Bernardino Jr. notched his second win in three games after defeating Thailand’s Peerathat Asvahem.