Frayna heads Filipina chessers in ASEAN+ Individual tilt

MANILA, Philippines — Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna leads the country’s campaign in the strong women’s division of the 7th ASEAN+ Individual Chess Championships unfurling Tuesday, November 3, at the AMORAP in Sinacaban, Misamis Occidental.

The country’s first and only WGM to date will face strong international challenge spearheaded by International Master and defending champion Evgenija Ovod of Russia, fellow WGMs Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam, and Sharavdorj Oyungerel of Mongolia.

Also expected to draw some of the attention are Filipinos seeking GM, IM, WGM and WIM norms — IMs Jem Garcia, Pau Bersamina, Michael Concio, Jr., MJ Bacojo and Christian Gian Karlo Arca and FIDE Master Alekhine Nouri in the open section and Ruelle Canino, Jan Jodilyn Fronda, Shania Mae Mendoza and Mhage Sebastian in the women’s side.

The Open division of this nine-round tournament attracted a total of 39 entries from 24 nations, including four GMs in Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam; Dashzegve Sharavdorj of Mongolia; Daniel Quizon and Darwin Laylo of the Philippines; 24 IMs, including top seed Nguyen Quoc Hy of Vietnam; and seven FMs.

The women’s side has 33 entries, including an IM in defending champion Evgenija Ovod of Russia, four WGMs in Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam; and Sharavdorj Oyungerel of Mongolia, seven WIMs including No. 1 rank Bordoloi Pratitee of India; and 10 WFMs.

More GMs are joining in the Misamis Occidental Philippine International Chess Championships with seven GMs, including Evgeny Romanov of Macedonia, and Chakraborty Mayank, N R Vignesh and Nikhil Shyaam of India seeing action in a nine-round meet slated Nov. 10 to 17 also at the AMORAP.

From Misamis Occidental, everyone goes to Quezon City for the AQ Prime International Open Chess Championships set November 17-25.

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