Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna and International Master John Marvin Miciano downed India’s FIDE Master Aniruddha Deshpande and Om Manish Kadam, respectively, to barge into the Top 10 after five rounds of the 44th Vila De Sitges in Spain Wednesday night.
The wins catapulted Frayna, 22, and Micano, 17, into a 10-player group at No. 10 with 3.5 points, or just a full point behind top seed GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, who kept the solo lead after drawing with Russian GM Sergey Volkov with 4.5 points.
Frayna was tackling Spain’s FM Vicenc Esplugas Esteve, while Miciano was playing India’s Singhania Vatsal in the sixth round at press time, hoping to further close in on Guseinov, who is a favorite to win a third straight title after topping Barbera del Valles and Sant Marti previous to this one.
It was a much-needed win for Frayna, whose trip here is being backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and The Philippine STAR president and chief executive officer Miguel Belmonte, after being slowed down with three straight draws.
After a strong start, GM Jayson Gonzales, Frayna and Miciano’s coach, absorbed his first defeat in this nine-round tournament at the hands of India’s Anand Saurabh.
Interestingly, Saurabh also dealt Miciano’s only loss in the third round.
The setback sent the 49-year-old Gonzales out of the Top 10 with three points and was eyeing a win over Swedish Torbjorn Glimbrant that will send him back into the thick of things.