Woman International Master Frayna stuns GM Antonio

MANILA, Philippines — Woman International Master Janelle Mae Frayna continued her unprecedented run in the Battle of the Grandmasters Monday, stunning GM Joey Antonio to share the fourth round lead at Philippine Sports Commission Athletes Dining Hall.

Handling white, Frayna bested Antonio, many time national champion and Chess Olympian, in 47 moves of a Queen’s Fianchetto to gain top spot with GM Eugene Torre and International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia.

The 17-year-old Frayna, who became the first Filipino woman to beat a male GM when she shocked GM Richard Bitoon in the second round, also downed IM Joel Pimentel in the third round to raise her total to 9.0 points like Torre and Garcia.

Frayna, a psychology student at Far Eastern U who won the girls’ 20-under title in the recent 15th Asean Age-Group Chess Championship held in Macau, was also the first woman to qualify for the men’s division of the event by landing among the top six semifinalists.

Frayna, a protégé of GM Jayson Gonzales, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines executive director, was playing GM Rogelio Barcenilla at press time last night.

Frayna who represented the country in the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, bested three Woman GMs last year.