A Grand Master (GM) in the making, Christian Gian Karlo Tade-Arca triumphed as the champion in the FIDE World Youth Blitz Chess Championship held in Italy.
Arca battled non-titled players in the first four rounds: Zamir Stellan, Kanchev Martin, Jiang Qinyu, and Sisi Muhamed. In his next four, he battled against title players: GM Harutjunyan Gevorg, FM Agasarov Benik, FM Bacojo Mark Jay, and IM El Taher Fouad.
His last round resulted in a draw against Li Shanglin, but Arca’s performance automatically awarded him the championship title and International Master (IM) by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the 2nd highest title behind GM.
Arca was trained at a young age with the support of his father; at 10 years old, he was known to be a regular participant in the Jardin Del Roca Fischer Random Tourney in Davao City.
One of its previous organizers, Jong Guevarra Jr., shared that the young boy had won the Best Kiddie Award back in 2019 by competing against veteran players in Jardin Del Roca.
While Arca has gained recognition as the second-world youth Filipino champion after Mark Paragua, his remarkable success will live on in the hearts of young Filipino chess athletes. Anyone can become a board champion.
Photo Credit:
https://www.facebook.com/arman.arca.3
https://www.facebook.com/arman.arca.3
