Newly-minted female IM Frayna stuns Antonio in Battle of GMs chessfest

MANILA, Philippines – Riding high off her newly acquired status as Woman International Master, Janelle Mae Frayna continued to make waves in the Battle of Grandmasters-National Chess Championships on Monday, June 23.

Frayna claimed her biggest upset yet in the event, which serves as tryouts for the national team to the World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway in August, by outplaying veteran Grandmaster Rogelio Antonio Jr. at the Philippine Sports Commission dining hall inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

With a small gallery watching, the 19-year-old Far Eastern University psychology junior from Legazpi City, playing white, turned her opponent’s blunder into victory after 47 moves of an Owen’s Defense.

Frayna, who earned the WIM title together with compatriot Jan Jodilyn Fronda after they shared top honors in the Under-20 Girls title at the 15th ASEAN + Agegroup Championships last week in Macau, China, shared the lead after four rounds with GM Eugene Torre and International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia.

Flashing some of his old magic, Torre, Asia’s first grandmaster, defeated GM Richard Bitoon in 56 moves of a Benoni Defense while Garcia, the reigning Asian Under-18 champion vanquished fellow IM Joel Pimentel in 59 moves of a Queen’s Pawn Opening.

All three players had nine points each in the competition organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, with three points awarded to a victory while a draw is worth 1.5 points.

The other matches featuring GMs Roger Barcenilla and Darwin Laylo, Paulo Bersamina, who also secured an IM title in the Asean agegroup meet, and National Master Roel Abelgas and GM John Paul Gomez and IM Oliver Makiling all ended in draws.  

NCFP executive director GM Jayson Gonzales said that at least two slots for the Tromso Olympiad will be up for grabs in the 11-round chessfest with two slots reserved already for GMs Julio Sadorra and Oliver Barbosa.

Sadorra is the country’s next highest-rated player after US-based GM Wesley So, who has decided to transfer his allegiance to the United  States Chess Federation, with an Elo rating of 2600.

Frayna, a protégé of GM Gomez, said she exploited Antonio’s lapse of Qc2 on his 37 move that left the 13-time National Open champion open to a Kingside attack when he lost a valuable knight in the succeeding exchanges.

The only female player seeing action in the field of 12 entries threatened to checkmate her opponent with queen, knight and rook when the dismayed Antonio was compelled to resign.  

Following her opening-round loss to Abelgas, Frayna bounced back with surprising victories over Bitoon and Pimentel in succession to remain atop the standings in the 11-round competition – Rappler.com