MANILA, Philippines — Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna downed fellow Filipina Woman FIDE Master Allaney Jia Doroy to bolster her top 10 bid after seven rounds of the 17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (Second Manny Pacquiao Cup) Sunday night. Indian IM Ruot Padmini drew with Chinese IM Guo Qi to continue to hold sway with six points, a full point ahead of the chase pack composed of Vietnamese IM Le Thao Nguyen, Singaporean WGM Gong Qianyun and Chinese WGM Wang Jue with five points apiece. Frayna drew her opening-round match with Malaysian Sivanesan Nithyalakshmi then suffered losses to Indian WIM P V Nandhidhaa in the second and Chinese fourth seed WGM Wang Jue in the fourth. “I’m just hoping for the best in my last two rounds,” said Frayna, who is seeking to become the first Filipino woman to earn a GM title. De Guzman will clash with IM Xu Yi of China while Gomez takes on GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in the eighth round.

Source: Philippine Star December 17, 2018 16:01 UTC