Frayna stays in the hunt for FIDE World Cup berth

DESPERATELY needing a victory to storm back into contention, Janelle Mae Frayna delivered as she smashed Mongolian Enkh-Amgalan Enkhrii on Sunday in the women’s side of the Asian Individual Chess Championships in Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

The Philippines’ first and only Woman Grandmaster (WGM) dismantled the bewildered Ms. Enkhrii’s Two Knights Defense in 26 moves, catapulting her into a 10-player tie at No. 11 with 3.5 points apiece after the fifth round of this nine-round meet, where the top two qualify straight to the FIDE World Cup on July 5-29 in Batumi, Georgia.

It was a much-needed result for the 28-year-old Army soldier from Legazpi, Albay, who was derailed by three straight draws after hurdling her opening-round assignment.

And all it took for Ms. Frayna, whose participation is being financed by the Philippine Sports Commission, was a small opening mistake by Ms. Enkhrii that allowed the former to capture a pawn and eventually a piece to extract the full point.

Ms. Frayna will need to summon that kind of form in the last four rounds to have a legitimate World Cup chance, including one against WGM Alserkal Rouda Essa of the host country in the sixth round.

Ms. Frayna was the country’s last hope for a berth in Batumi as teammates Marie Antoinette San Diego, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas found themselves in the bottom half of the standings with only two, two and 1.5 points, respectively.

Among the men, Pau Bersamina, Jem Garcia and Grandmaster Daniel Quizon have been relatively quiet with three, three and two points, respectively. — Joey Villar