Filipino International Master (IM) Michael Concio Jr. defeated compatriot FIDE Master (FM) Gian Karlo Arca in the third round of the 2024 Asian Juniors and Girls Chess Championships at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City, Cavite Tuesday night.
The win put Concio in second place with 3.5 points on three wins and one draw.
Arca, on the other hand, joined India's Krishnan Rohith, Vietnam's K. D. Dau and C. S. Yu, and Kazakhstan's I. Alkhibay in fourth place with 2.5 points.
"We had a difficult match, especially since he is really good. He even made it to the middle game, but made a mistake with the continuation," said Concio after the match that lasted for nearly four hours.
His next opponent will be defending champion and top seed Grandmaster (GM) Aleksey Grebnev of Russia.
Grebnev, one of the strongest junior players in the world, defeated Rohit to stay on top of the standings with four points.
Meanwhile, Filipino Andreei Ainsley Dolorosa prevailed over India's Candidate master (CM) Ragavesh Velavaa to gain three points for joint third with No. 3 seed S. Aswath (India), No. 4 seed Artem Uskov (Russia), India's Y. Bharadia and A. Adireddy, and Mongolia's M. Amilal.
In the girl's division, No. 2 seed Woman International Master (WIM) Anna Shukhman of Russia beat No. 6 Halder Sneha of India to remain unbeaten after four rounds.
Defending champion and top seed WIM G. Tejaswini of India downed No. 10 Luong Hoang Tu Linh of Vietnam to join compatriots Dhanasree Khairmode and Sneha, and Malaysia's A. M. Mohd in second place with three points.
In the other match, Jemaicah Yap Mendoza of Sta. Rosa, Laguna stunned world Under-12 cadets champion and No. 4 Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana of Sri Lanka to earn 2.5 points, in a tie with India's V. Rindhiya.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded in the standard, rapid and blitz categories in the tournament organized by the Asian Chess Federation in cooperation with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. (PNA)
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