John Marvin Miciano stays in hunt but Janelle Mae Frayna falls

MANILA, Philippines — International Master John Marvin Miciano split the point with FIDE Master Bernat Serarols Mabras to move to joint seventh but Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna fell to Atul Dahale of India in the third round of the XX Obert Internacional Sant Marti 2018 in Barcelona, Spain Sunday night.

The draw hiked the 17-year-old Miciano’s output to 2.5 points, half a point behind top seed Gadir Guseinov of Kazakhstan, who topped the Barbera del Valles tournament last week and led five others in the three-pointer group.

Miciano was playing Indian Das Abishek at presstime while Frayna, 22, was gunning for a rebound against Ukrainian Oleksandr Khudov.

GM Jayson Gonzales bowed to fourth seed Yasser Quesada Perez and dropped outside the top 20 with two points to show.

Gonzales, who ended up fifth in last week’s event, was playing Spain’s Gil Javier Garcia at presstime.

Frayna is on her second of a six-tournament, 51-day European campaign with aim at gaining GM norms or outright title. She’s also eyeing to breach the 2500-rating level for a crack at the women’s top 10 world rankings.