Janelle Mae Frayna evaded defeat, keeping solo lead in Bulacan chess tourney. (Photo contributed)
MALOLOS, Bulacan — Bicolana Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna retained her lead in the seventh round of the Philippine National Women’s Chess Championship after escaping with a draw against Iloilo’s top-ranked junior Queen Rose Pamplona.
Frayna, an enlisted personnel of the Philippine Army, found herself in trouble at the face of a vicious kingside attack by Pamplona but eventually found a way to neutralize the advance in snatching a 39-move standoff of a razor-sharp Center-Counter showdown.
The draw gave her solo lead with 5.5 points but with her once full-point lead cut into half after 18-year-old Ruelle Canino of Cagayan de Oro carved out a hard-earned victory of a Queen’s Gambit duel over Mindanaoan prodigy Allaney Jia Doroy of Agusan del Sur.
Since the opening matches, Canino has hugged the limelight in the national team qualifier for the upcoming World Chess Olympiad, lighting up the fireworks after a pair of duds in the first two rounds of the tournament backed by host city Mayor Christian Natividad and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
With eight rounds to go, the ASEAN Individual Championship silver winner has five points, 4.5 points of which came in the last five rounds that put her in prime position to punch one of the three tickets to the Samarkand, Uzbekistan Olympiad this September.
Also in current contention in the tourney are Heart Padilla of Iba, Zambales, Jan Jodilyn Fronda of Alaminos, Pangasinan and Woman International Master (WIM) Bernadette Galas, who were in No. 3 with 4.5 points each.
Padilla crushed Maria Lavandero in 31 moves of a Sicilian, Fronda split the point with Shania Mae Mendoza in 36 moves of a Queen’s Pawn game and Galas halved the point with Marie Antoinette San Diego in 31 moves of yet another Sicilian.
The NCFP-sanctioned, FIDE-rated tournament took a break yesterday and will resume today with Frayna and Canino battling it in a showdown between two national champions.