Frayna Wins, Barbosa Falters

by Marlon Bernardino

THE Philippines came out with mixed fortunes performance in the on-going 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games 2013 Classical Chess at the Yonsei University International Campus  in Incheon, Korea on Monday.

Woman International Master elect Janelle Mae Frayna  defeated Woman Fide Master Uuganbayar Lkhamsuren of Mongolia to  improve  to  2.5 points  on   two   wins and  a draw.

The top player of Far Eastern University womens chess team is now tied for 5th to 7th places in the company of WGM Nafisa Muminova of Uzbekistan and WIM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran.

GMs Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue of China, IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam and WIM Hejazipour Mitra of Iran toppled their respective rivals to share the lead with perfect 3.0 points after three games of play.

Woman International Master Catherine Perena bounced back in contention by demolishing Hussain Aminath Hasha of Maldives for her 2.0 points. Perena from San Jose Delmonte, Bulacan was yielded to IM Pham in the second round in the women's division. 

Not everything was good news for local chess fans, though, with World Cup bound GM Oliver Barbosa failing to sustain the momentum of his victory over IM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam in the second round, bowing to 

GM Al Medaihki Mohd Ahmed A J of Qatar in the third round in the men's side. 

With the win, GM Al Medaihki share the lead with fellow perfect 3.0 pointers GM Yu Yangyi of China and GM Salem Abdulrahman Mohamed Saleh of UAE.

Barbosa from Taytay, Rizal native remains at 2.0 points, the same score of fellow World Cup bound GM Mark Paragua who halved the point with GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president and chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. and secretary-general Cavite 7th district Rep. Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr. tapped Asia's first GM Eugene Torre and NCFP executive director GM Jayson Gonzales to be the coaches of the Philippine Team that includes GM John Paul Gomez and WIM Bernadette Galas.

Delegation Head is NCFP deputy secretary-general Red Dumuk. Paragua and Barbosa will join compatriot GM Wesley So in the 2013 World Chess Cup in Tromso, Norway from August 10 to September 5. So is fresh from winning this year's National Open Championship dubbed as Las Vegas International Chess Festival 2013 held at the Riviera Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The country's campaign in the tournament is supported by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).