Grandmaster hopeful Arca stuns German GM

MANILA, Philippines — For 16-year-old Filipino FIDE Master Christian Gian Karlo Arca to become a Grandmaster, he needs to show he can beat a lot of them.

You can list super Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson of Germany in the body count.

Relying on an opening novelty in a King’s Indian Attack formation, the Panabo, Davao del Norte native unnerved the top-seeded German in hacking out a shock 39-move win that kept him not just in the title hunt but also in contention for a GM norm.

That is assuming he can continue to collect GM scalps.

He will have his chance as he was battling another GM in English Stephen Gordon in the fourth round that was being played as of this writing.

At the helm with a pristine score of three points, Arca was joined by 11 others including countrymen, International Masters Michael Concio, Jr. and Paulo Bersamina.

Concio, who is also a GM candidate, dismantled Iranian Behnood Delavari’s Sicilian Defense in 35 moves while Bersamina, a many-time Olympiad veteran, pulverized fellow Filipino Marc Kevin Labog’s Slav Defense to likewise stay unscathed and on top.

Both Concio and Bersamina will face a GM with the former tackling Indian Surya Shekhar Ganguly and the latter tangling with Macedonian Evgeny Romanov.

Over at the Reykjavik Open in Iceland, Woman GM Janelle Frayna bested Dutch Adrian Mensing to finish with a solid six points out of a possible nine.

The Army woman from Bicol is expected to play in a tournament in Alicante, Spain where she will play only eight of the nine games because she is scheduled to compete in the Asian Zonals in Mongolia starting April 22.