By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Jemaicah Yap Mendoza fell short on her title bid as she bowed to Russian Polina Smirnova in the 11th and final round and settled for the bronze medal in the girls 14-under division of the World Youth Chess Championships in Durres, Albania on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
The 14-year-old Mendoza, a native of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, faltered after 43 moves of a Slav Defense to finish with 8.5 points.
Smirnova wound up tied for first with Uzbekistan’s Rukiya Olimava, but the latter took home the gold medal after tiebreaks were applied.
Olimava trounced Russian Eliza Tereshchenko in the last round.
Ironically, Mendoza defeated Olimava in the seventh round.
With the podium finish, Mendoza gained 140.4 points to improve her current rating from 1943 to 2083.4.
She also became the fourth highest-rated female chess player in the country at the moment behind Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna (2246), Jan Jodily Fronda (2115) and Ruelle Canino (2110).
