A queen in the game of kings

Philippine pride: Janelle Mae Frayna playing in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad. Photo credit: David Llada

Philippine pride: Janelle Mae Frayna playing in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad. Photo credit: David Llada

Janelle Mae Frayna was featured on Inquirer:

With her mother as her inspiration, she says she will be aiming for the GM title next year and the World Championship cycle in 2018.

“I feel I can do it,” says Janelle, who idolizes Hungarian GM Judith Polgar, the greatest woman player of all time.

With the way she played in the World Junior Championship and the Baku Olympiad, which were definitely no less than strong finishes, indeed, we believe she can do it!

Isle of Man (Masters) 2016 Round 5 Report

[section_title title=”Ranking after Round 5″]

Benjamin Bok (ELO 2594) pulled the biggest upset in Round 5 of Chess.com’s Isle of Man International Tournament 2016, when he defeated the world number 7, Hikaru Nakamura (ELO 2787), with the black pieces. [replay]

Bok will be up against Wesley So in Round 6.

benjamin-bok

Replay all the games played so far: Chess.com Isle of Man International 2016 – Masters.

Check out: Isle of Man Masters 2016 Round 5 Results.

Also check out: Isle of Man Masters 2016 Round 6 Pairings.

At the end of Round 5, Pavel Eljanov joined Alexei Shirov in the lead. Full ranking after round 5 follows:

Eugene Torre and Philippine Chess

torre

Ignacio Dee on Rappler:

Then he tightens the screws: a mating attack or an endgame. It makes no difference. In Baku, he was playing like he was in his 20s, with energy and not taking any breaks.

It is no wonder that many Filipinos who used to love chess passionately until their careers demanded their attention would comment joyfully, even Torre wins on Facebook.

We can celebrate the outstanding performance of GM Eugene Torre in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad all we want, but let’s not overlook the fact that when a 64-year-old Torre leads the Philippine team in the Chess Olympiad is reminiscent of the sorry state of Philippine Chess.

WGM Janelle Mae Frayna

GM Jayson Gonzales, coach to the Philippines Women team in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad, announced in a press release:

I’m proud to announce that WIM (Woman International Master) Janelle Mae Frayna achieved the third and last result to become the first Woman Grandmaster from the Philippines.

Janelle Mae Frayna in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad. Photo credit: Baku Chess Olympiad.

20-year-old Janelle Mae Frayna in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad. Photo credit: Baku Chess Olympiad.

Frayna achieved her third and final WGM norm in her drawn game in Round 9 of Baku Chess Olympiad against IM Daavademberel Nomin-Erdene of Mongolia.

Philippines Women Team Pulls an Upset Against the 4th Seed Georgia in Round 2 of Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad

The Philippines Women Team in Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad pulled an upset against the 4th seed, Georgia, in Round 2.

The Philippines had an average rating of 2148 vs. Georgia that had an average rating of 2470. That’s 321 average rating difference. See the match-up and the individual games results below.

GEO vs. PHI - Round 2 Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad (Women)

Bo.4Georgia (GEO)Rtg-46Philippines (PHI)Rtg1½:2½
5/1GMDzagnidze, Nana (w)2522-WIMFrayna, Janelle Mae (b)2281½ - ½
5/2GMKhotenashvili, Bela (b)2463-WIMFronda, Jan Jodilyn (w)21280 - 1
5/3IMBatsiashvili, Nino (w)2474-Bernales, Christy Lamiel (b)20651 - 0
5/4IMMelia, Salome (b)2419-WIMSecopito, Catherine (w)21190 - 1

This win boosted the team’s ranking to No. 29 after 2 rounds. (See here)

Replay the games below: [replay]

In Round 3, the Philippines’ Women team will be up against the 5th seed, India. Can they pull another upset this time?

GM Joey Antonio is out of Philippines’ roster for Baku 2016 Chess Olympiad Open

Philstar reported last Monday:

Grandmaster Joey Antonio, the reigning national champion, will not be joining the Philippine team bound for the 42nd World Chess Olympiad set Sept. 1-14 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The explanation offered by the NCFP: that GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio, Jr. will be playing in the 2016 World Seniors Championship in November.

Ed Andaya writes in Journal Online:

Conspicuously absent is Battle of GMs national champion Rogelio Antonio, Jr., who reportedly begged off from taking his place in the national team to Baku.

Infiesto said Antonio decided to represent the country in the 2016 World Seniors Championsips in the Czech Republic in November, along with Torre.

If you don’t smell something fishy about these developments, let me point out to you what Antonio posted on his Facebook account just last month:

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 4 Highlights

GM Maurice Ashley covers the highlights from yesterday’s Round 4 of the 2016 Sinquefield Cup, third leg of the Grand Chess Tour.

Round 5 coming up later in just a few hours.

Sinquefield Cup 2016 Round 5 Matchups

NameRtgRes.NameRtg
Anish Giri2769--Levon Aronian2792
Viswanathan Anand2770--Wesley So2771
Veselin Topalov2761--Ding Liren2755
Peter Svidler2751--Hikaru Nakamura2791
Fabiano Caruana2807--M. Vachier-Lagrave2819