OZAMIZ CITY — The Philippines’ Christian Gian Karlo Arca outlasted countryman Tyrhone James Tabernilla to grab a piece of the lead after three rounds of the 6th ASEAN Individual Chess Championships-Gov. Henry Oaminal Cup at the Misamis Occidental Resort and Aquamarine Park here.

Arca, 16, pounced on an overeager knight sacrifice by Tabernilla in the endgame to escape with a 57-move win of a Catalan encounter after errantly giving up a pawn early.

That sent the proud son of Panabo, Davao del Norte into a four-man tie for first place with Vietnamese Grandmaster Tran Tuan Minh, Indian IM V S Raahul and Mongolian IM Munkhdalai Amilal with 2.5 points each.

It would take more victories like this one for Arca to rule this nine-round tournament that stakes the one prize he craves the most — a GM title — for the eventual champion.

He was eyeing another against the third-seeded Raahul in the fourth round at press time that should fuel his GM drive.

Raahul and Tran, part of a three-player tie for No. 1 the round before, drew while Munkhdalai downed Indonesian FIDE Master Fabien Glen Mariano to zoom straight to the top.

Making a big title chase was a group of 11 woodpushers with two points each, among them Filipinos in GM John Paul Gomez and IMs Pau Bersamina, Jem Garcia, Michael Concio Jr. and Kim Steven Yap.

Bersamina and Concio split the point while Gomez and Yap likewise drew their games with Indian IM Ramesh Avinash and Vietnamese IM Dang Hoang Son, respectively.

GM Nguyen Van Huy, IM Dang Hoang Son and FM Dinh Nho Kiet of Vietnam, Indian IM Kamotra Soham, and Malaysian FM Wong Yinh Long were also in that same pack.