Fide master (FM) Christian Gian Karlo Arca, who hails from Panabo City, currently holds the sixth spot after eight rounds of the ongoing Philippine National Open Chess Championship Grand Finals 2023 being held in Marikina City.
The sixth-seeded Arca, a Fide World Youth 2023 blitz chess champion, boasts an unbeaten record with five points after Round 8.
He secured victories over 10th-seeded international master (IM) Barlo Nadera and Samson Chiu Chin Iii Lim in the second and eighth rounds, respectively.
Arca split points with national master (NM) Jerish John Velarde in the first round, woman grandmaster (WGM) Janelle Mae Frayna in the third, IM Paulo Bersamina in the fourth, GM John Paul Gomez in the fifth, top-seeded IM Daniel Quizon in the sixth, and second-seeded GM Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr. in the seventh.
Quizon leads the 13-round Swiss System format chessfest with 6.5 points, closely followed by Frayna with six points.
IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Gomez each tallied 5.5 points to claim the third and fourth places, respectively.
Bersamina, FM Mark Jay Bacojo, and Arca occupy the next three spots with five points each.
The rest of the rankings include NM Vince Angelo Medina (8th with 4.5 points), Antonio (9th with 4.0), GM Darwin Laylo (10th with 3.5), Nadera (11th with 2.5), NM Jerish John Velarde (12th with 1.5), Lim (13th with 1.0), and Woman International Master (WIM) Marie Antoinette San Diego (14th with 0.5).
The ninth-round match pitting Arca against Laylo was ongoing as of press time. MLSA