MANILA: Janelle Mae Frayna bowed out of the World Junior Chess Championship with two losses in the last 3 rounds before a final round draw put her in a tie for fourth to eighth place with 8.5 points in the 13 rounds at KITT University in Bhubaneswar, India, media reports said.
Although Frayna’s performance is the best by any Filipino in the girls division, she missed a goal of winning the third and final norm to become the Philippines’ first woman grandmaster, reported Rappler.
“Sorry, sir I did not get the WGM norm,” Frayna was quoted as saying in a private message on her Facebook account. “In the FIDE (International Chess Federation) handbook, if it is 11 rounds (or more), I should have faced four woman grandmasters (to get the final norm).”
Frayna reportedly grabbed the attention of Filipino chess fans following the World Junior Chess Championship as she won 6 games and drew 4 times to grab the solo lead in the tenth round.
On the 11th round, Frayna, playing black against Paula Angela Rodriguez Rueda, an International Master from Colombia, she gave up her queen for a rook and two pieces but was unable to stir up activity as most of her pieces remained in the last rank. Frayna, with knight against Rueda’s rook, gave up on the 60th move, said the news portal.
On the 12th round, S Dharia Parnali of India, playing black against Frayna, reportedly sidestepped the Filipina’s Catalan opening formation and went into a Reti Opening. The position was even but Parnali pressed on and managed to gain the advantage through a rook sacrifice that opened Frayna’s position.
On the 13th and final round, Gu Tianlu of China sacrificed a piece against Frayna, and an up-and-down battle ensured with Frayna unable to coordinate her rooks together against Gu’s queen. Frayna managed to draw perpetual check in 60 moves of a French Defense.
“I failed to sustain the lead and eventually dropped to 5th place but this event really had a great impact on my chess career. Somehow pressure creeps in and there’s nothing and no one to be blamed but myself,” Frayna was quoted as saying on Chess News and Views Facebook page.
Frayna reportedly breached the 2300 Elo level, one of the requirements to get the woman grandmaster title, with a gain of 18.4 points in the tournament. This puts her Elo rating at 2310, the highest by a Filipina.
Frayna will man board one for the Philippines at the Baku Chess Olympiad next month but getting the final norm here will be difficult as the women’s team must be in the top 20 places to give Frayna a chance to meet more grandmasters, reported Rappler.
