JANELLE Mae Frayna found teener Kate Ordizo a tough nut to crack and ended up splitting their duel in 35 moves of a Gruenfeld to keep her iron grip oN the lead after 13 rounds of the Philippine National Women’s Chess Championship in Malolos, Bulacan yesterday.
Frayna, 29, hiked her total to 10 points, or just half a point ahead of Ruelle Canino, who likewise drew her match against Apple Rubin in 62 moves of a Sicilian Defense with two rounds left in this event bankrolled by host city Mayor Christian Natividad and the PSC.
Also in hot pursuit were Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas, who hurdled their respective assignments to close in at joint third with nine points each.
Fronda used her queenside passed pawn to outlast Bonjoure Suyamin in 86 moves while Galas made the most out of her pawn advantage to turn back Mhage Sebastian in 64 moves in a pair of razor-sharp Sicilian showdowns.
The four are expected to go for nothing less than victories in the last two rounds in the race for the three outright berths to this September’s World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Loitering at No. 5 with eight points with a chance, albeit slim, of gatecrashing into Samarkand was Allaney Jia Doroy, who shocked Olympiad mainstay Shania Mae Mendoza in 86 moves of a Pirc.
The 14th and penultimate round of this event dubbed as “The Battle of Women’s Masters” was being played at press time while the final round is set today.
