Frayna trails leader by one after draw with No. 7 seed

MANILA, Philippines -  Woman GM Janelle Mae Frayna held seventh seed Latvian WIM Niño Khomeriki to a draw and remained one point off the pace after four rounds of the Women’s International Open in Erfurt, Germany Tuesday night.

With three points, the 21-year-old Frayna stood in joint sixth with five others, a full point behind solo leader and top seed IM Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi of India and half-a-point behind WIM Karolina Olsarova of the Czech Republic and WGMs Mitra Hejazipour of Ireland, Jovana Rapport of Serbia and Mihaela Sandu of Romania.

Frayna, whose campaign is backed by The Philippine STAR president/CEO Miguel G. Belmonte, FEU’s Gigi Montinola III and Edward Go, was playing No. 6 and another Latvian WGM Ilze Berzina in the fifth round at presstime.

The former Far Eastern U standout shocked eighth pick Russian WGM Galina Strutinskaia in 38 moves of a super-sharp Sicilian duel in the third round.

The Erfurt tilt is Frayna’s third tournament in her European campaign where she aims to barge into the top 10 in the world’s women’s rankings. She is also eyeing to become the Phl’s first woman GM.

She posted six wins and eight draws against four defeats against all male players in two tournaments – the 19th Obert International Saint Marti and 43rd Open International D’Escacs Vila de Sitges last month in Spain.

Both events earned Frayna, the country’s first ever WGM who has a FIDE rating of 2235, 25 rating points and would automatically clinch the men’s IM title if she reaches the 2400-rating plateau.