Janelle Frayna closes in on reclaiming the Philippine Women’s Chess crown

JANELLE MAE FRAYNA continued to inch closer to reclaiming the Philippine National Women’s Chess Championship crown as she drew with Kate Ordizo on Tuesday to firm up her grip of the solo lead with two rounds to go in Malolos, Bulacan.

Ms. Frayna, the country’s first and only Woman Grandmaster to date, found a tough customer in 18-year-old Ms. Ordizo and decided to draw their Gruenfeld duel in 35 moves rather than risk ending up on the defensive against the latter’s better pawn formation.

The result kept Ms. Frayna unflappable at No. 1 with 10 points and closer to reclaiming the crown she last won five years ago.

She went for it in the last edition two years ago but ended up third in the event topped by teenage sensation Ruelle Canino, a Woman International Master who came out of nowhere to capture the crown and become one of the youngest to accomplish such a feat.

Interestingly, Ms. Canino lurked behind the shadow of Ms. Frayna again as the 18-year-old Cagayan de Oro native kept eerily close with 9.5 points after halving the point with Apple Rubin in 62 moves of Sicilian.

At joint third with nine points each in this meet financed by host Mayor Christian Natividad and the Philippine Sports Commission, were Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas.

Ms. Fronda utilized her queenside passed pawn to the hilt in carving out an 86-move triumph over Bonjoure Suyamin while Ms. Galas punished Mhage Sebastian’s tactical recklessness in snaring a 62-move win in a couple of Sicilian clashes.

The four, who were part of the team that sealed a Category B gold medal in the Budapest Olympiad two years ago, are expected not to hold back as they go not just for the title but as well as one of the three seats to this September’s Olympiad edition in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Down at No. 5 with eight points but not yet out of the race to Samarkand was Allaney Jia Doroy, who pulled the rug from under Olympiad mainstay Shania Mae Mendoza in 86 moves of a Pirc encounter.

The 14^th and penultimate round of this meet dubbed as “The Battle of Women’s Masters” was being played as of this writing while the last round is scheduled on Wednesday. — Joey Villar