Frayna, Fronda brace for Olympiad

MANILA, Philippines — Janelle Mae Frayna and Jan Jodilyn Fronda showed their readiness to lead the Philippine women’s team in next month’s FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary after strong finishes in a recent tournament in Vlissingen, The Netherlands.

Frayna, the country’s first and only Woman Grandmaster, smashed Dutch Joaquin Aarts in the ninth and final round Saturday night to end up tied for 13th place with eight others with 6.5 points.

The Army woman from Bicol was just a point behind solo champion Daniel Howard Fernandez of England, who had 7.5 points.

GMs Antonios Pavlidis of Greece and Samvel Tersahakyan of Armenia wound up in an 11-player pack with seven points apiece but took second and third place, respectively.

Fronda, for her part, downed another local bet Hicham Boulahfa to end up in a 16-player logjam at No. 22 with six points.

“Happy with my performance and made some decent rating pluses,” said Frayna, whose participation was being supported by the Philippine Sports Commission through chair Richard Bachmann and commissioner Edward Hayco, and NCFP chief Butch Pichay.