By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna overpowered Woman FIDE Master Batpelden Buyankhishig of Mongolia to boost her title campaign after five rounds in the 6th ASEAN Individual Chess Championships-Gov. Henry Oaminal Cup at the Misamis Occidental Resort and Aquamarine Park in Ozamiz.
The second-seeded Frayna was all business from the start, claiming the victory after 38 moves of a Reti Opening against her 13-year-old rival to improve to four points to tie Vietnamese WGMs Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Hoang Thi Bao Tram for a share of second place.
Nguyen and Hoang settled for a quick 18-move draw of a Queen’s Pawn London System to slip from the top of the standings.
Frayna, Nguyen and Hoang are half a point behind solo leader International Master Evgenija Ovod of Russia, who flattened Vietnamese WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An’s Caro-Kann Defense in 42 moves.
Frayna was clashing with Hoang in the sixth round at presstime, hoping for another good result.
Woman FIDE Master Ruelle Canino, meanwhile, halved the point with top seed WFM Anna Zhurova of Russia in 41 moves of a Nimzo-Indian Defense to move into a tie for No. 5 with Indonesian WIM Laysa Latifah and Russian Ekaterina Smirnova with 3.5 points apiece.
It also kept the 17-year-old Far Eastern University star and reigning national champion’s bid for an outright WGM title bid afloat.
In the open section, IMs Pau Bersamina and Christian Gian Karlo Arca pulled off huge triumphs to move half a point behind co-leaders in Mongolian IM Munkhdalai Amilal and Indian IM V S Raahul.
Bersamina crushed Vietnamese FM Dinh Nho Kiet’s Sicilian Defense in just 25 moves while the Zamboanga City-based Arca slew GM Darwin Laylo in 57 moves of a Reti to jump to a six-man logjam at No. 3 with 3.5 points each.
It included fellow Filipino IMs Kim Steven Yap and Jem Garcia, who split the point in 27 moves of a Scotch.
