Frayna’s World Cup bid slows down with a draw with Essa

JANELLE MAE FRAYNA’S World Cup bid was slowed down a bit after a 29-move draw with fellow Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Alserkal Rouda Essa of the United Arab Emirates in the sixth round of the Asian Individual Chess Championships in Al Ain on Monday night.

The standoff kept the enlisted Army personnel from Albay marooned in a 13-player tie at No. 12 with four points apiece, or 1.5 points off current pacesetter WGM Seshadri Srija of India.

But at least it wasn’t a loss as the Olympiad veteran teetered through it after getting herself into trouble and an inferior position before a pawn sacrifice allowed her to escape with a 29-move split in their sharp Sicilian duel.

Despite it, Ms. Frayna remained in the hunt for one of the berths to the World Cup scheduled July 5 to 29 in Batumi, Georgia if she could string together great results in the final three rounds including this one on the seventh versus Uzbek Madinabonu Khalilova.

Three of her teammates — Marie Antoinette San Diego, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas — were lurking just behind Ms. Frayna and doing their best to come out with a respective finish.

Ms. San Diego has three points while Mmess. Fronda and Galas have 2.5 points each.

Pau Bersamina, Jem Garcia and Daniel Quizon are likewise trying to salvage some measure of pride in the open section where they have 3.5, three and 2.5 points, respectively.

Their trip is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission. — Joey Villar