LAOAG City—Woman International Master Janelle Mae Frayna picked up her second straight win in as many rounds on Sunday to figure in a three-way tie for the early lead in the Open Under-20 category, even as WIM Bernadette Galas, Woman National Master Jean Karen Enriquez, and Luzon leg winner Virgenie Ruaya emerged tied with 1.5 points each in the girls side in the 2016 National Age Group Chess Championship Grand Finals at the Mariano Marcos State University auditorium here.
The 19-year-old Frayna, the lone female participant in the Open (men’s) division in the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and hosted by the provincial government of Ilocos Norte, turned back James Rhey Bantugan in the opening round late Saturday, and followed it up with another strong win over Joshua Arias in the second round.
The successive wins pushed the no. 3 seed Frayna in a tie with Austin Jacob Literatus and Romy Fagon, who also had two wins to show going into the third round today.
Literatus, seeded no. 4 here, beat Adrian dela Cruz and Bantugan for a similar output, while Fagon upset Jonathan Jota in the first round, before defeating Arias in the second round in the round-robin tournament also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
In the girls side, the no. 4 seed Galas opened her campaign with a win in the first round, but was held to a draw in the second round by Ruaya in the second round.
Ruaya, a second year Electronic Communications Engineering at the University of the East, also opened her campaign with a win over Mabel San Juan before the draw with Galas.
Also with 1.5 points is Enriquez who also won her first assignment against Venice Vicente before settling for a draw with Woman Fide Master Antoinette San Diego in the second round.
In other men’s category result, John Merill Jacutina and Jeth Romy Morado both stayed unbetean after two rounds to lead their group, while three players — John Marvin Miciano, Dennis Gutierrez Jr., and Dale Bernardo share the lead with similar two points in the boys’ Under-16.
Meanwhile, Reishi Boy Polan and Dennis Gutierrez share the lead with points each in the boys’ Under-14, even as Daniel Quizon remained the only unbeaten player after two rounds in the boys’ Under-12.
In the boys U-10, Elijah Opriasa, Mark Jay Bacojo and Robert James Perez remained tied for the lead with two points apiece, while Gladimir Chester Romero and Ghian Micheal Aleria figure in a three-way tie for the lead with two points each.
In other girls’ side results, Samantha Glo Revita emerged the solo leader with two points, while WFM Alanney Doroy and Bea Mendoza share the lead in the girls’ Under-16.