Jan Emmanuel Garcia defeated Rodel Jose Juadinez to remain unbeaten in three games and share the lead with Wang Sing and Cai Jiu Bing in Group B at the 17th Thousand Island Cups Philippine Xiangqi Open Tournament at the Philippine Xiangqi Federation headquarters in Binondo, Manila on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Garcia, who holds an International Master title in chess, displayed his skills in xiangqi as he also defeated Chen Xuan Ren and Isaiah Gelua in the first two rounds.

Garcia, however, has yet to face Wang and Cai, who are both seasoned xiangqi players.

Trailing with 2.5 points apiece in Group B are Willy Cu and Tony Lim.

In Group A, xiangqi grandmaster Asi Ching remained on top with 2.0 points in two outings. He is just half a point ahead of Jerry Lim, Jackson Hong and Manuel Tan who scored 1.5 points each.

The tournament will resume July 13 and will culminate on July 14 at the same venue.

In Group A, the champion takes home the P50,000 purse while the runner-up pockets P30,000 and the third placer receives P20,000.

In Group B, the winner earns P20,000 while the second and third placers get P12,000 and P10,000, respectively.

Philippine Xiangqi Federation president Wilson Zhou, however, said the tournament is offering big money for home-grown players.

"We offer bigger prizes to attract more Filipino to participate in Xiangqi Open tournament," said Zhou.

Zhou said a Filipino player without Chinese descent who finished first in Group A will pocket P1 million and will win P500,000 for a runner-up finish.

In Group B, the Filipino champion will receive P500,000 and the runner-up will take home P100,000.

Xiangqi is a two-player board game similar to chess that was invented in China.