JANELLE MAE FRAYNA, the country’s first and only chess Woman Grandmaster (WG), is eyeing another date with destiny.
This time, the 26-year-old Army woman from Legazpi City is seeking to become the first woman to win a national men’s championship crown and claim a spot to the men’s national team seeing action in the World Chess Olympiad.
And she’s getting closer to achieving one of two or both as she zoomed to joint second midway through the 13-round Philippine National Chess Championships at the Marikina Community Convention Center Wednesday night.
Ms. Frayna’s last victim was Olympiad veteran International Master (IM) Barlo Nadera — a 68-move, seventh-round triumph of a Torre Attack — that catapulted her to a share of No. 2 with IM Jem Garcia, who split the point with GM John Paul Gomez in 29 moves of an English Opening, with five points each.
They were a full point behind IM Daniel Quizon, who used the King’s Indian Defense to send WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego to a 52-move submission to remain unflappable at the helm with six points going into the last six rounds of this meet presented by Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro and Congresswoman Maan Teodoro.
The champion here pockets P120,000 courtesy of Marikina City, NCFP Chairman President Prospero Pichay, Jr., POC President Abraham Tolentino, PSC Chair Richard Bachmann, the Eugene Torre Chess Foundation and Pan de Amerikana’s Jundio Salvador while the top three finishers makes the squad bound for the biennial event slated in September in Budapest, Hungary.
Ms. Frayna, who was battling Vince Angelo Medina and IM Paulo Bersamina in the eighth and ninth round, respectively, at press time, is hoping to accomplish one or both. — Joey Villar