Frayna beats Mongolian foe at ASEAN chess tourney 5th round

MANILA – Filipino Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna defeated Mongolian Batpelden Buyankhishig after 38 moves of a Reti duel Thursday in the fifth round of the 6th ASEAN Individual Chess Championships-Gov. Henry Oaminal Cup at Misamis Occidental Resort and Aquamarine Park in Ozamiz City.

The win sent Frayna to the No. 2 spot with four points, in a tie with fellow WGMs Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam, who settled for a draw after 18 moves of a London System.

Russian IM Evgenija Ovod prevailed over Vietnamese WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An after 42 moves of a Caro-Kann Defense, is ahead by half a point.

“I had an advantage early and grabbed the opportunity when I saw one,” the 28-year-old Frayna, who was batting Hoang in the sixth round at press time, said.

Meanwhile, reigning national champion Ruelle Canino from Cagayan de Oro stunned top seed Anna Zhurova of Russia in 41 moves of a Nimzo-Indian encounter to increase her total to 3.5 points.

She is tied with Indonesian WIM Laysa Latifah and Russian Ekaterina Smirnova at No. 5.

In the men’s division, four Filipinos led by Paul Bersamina and Christian Gian Karlo Arca hurdled their respective rivals to join two others in third place, half a point behind co-leaders Mongolian IM Munkhdalai Amilal and Indian IM V S Raahul.

Bersamina downed Vietnamese FM Dinh Nho Kiet in 25 moves of the Sicilian Defense while Zamboanga City-based Arca conquered compatriot GM Darwin Laylo in 57 moves of a Reti to earn 3.5 points each.

Also with 3.5 points are Filipinos IMs Kim Steven Yap and Jem Garcia, who settled for a draw in 27 moves of a Scotch. — Jean Malanum (PNA)