Frayna, other Pinoys triumph in Spain chess

MANILA, Philippines — Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna trounced Joshi Supriya of India to kick off her drive for a men’s GM title in the 41st Open International Barbera del Valles 2018 Chess Championship in Barbera de Valles, Spain Wednesday night.

The 22-year-old Frayna is aiming to earn GM norms or the outright title with a strong finish here. She is also out to breach the 2500-rating mark for a spot in the top 20 of the women’s world rankings.

Frayna (2315) next faces 10th ranked GM Marius Manolache of Romania (2494).

Meanwhile, GMs Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales and IM John Marvin Miciano also hurdled their opening round assignments for a share of the lead in the nine-round tournament featuring 15 GMs.

Torre, who competed in last week’s Battle of Legends tournament with former world champion Anatoly Karpov, defeated WIM Catherina Michelle of India while Miciano dumped Belgium’s Bussche Steven Vanden.

Gonzales, on the other hand, waylaid Perez Pablo Martinez.

Torre takes on India’s Khheredekar Sauravh, Miciano tackles India’s Gaurav Kumar and Gonzales squares off with Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara of Peru in the second round.

The team’s participation is sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission with Frayna also backed by The Philippine STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte.