Garcia stays at helm; Mendoza is newest WIM

Filipino International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia stayed in the lead while Woman Fide Master Shania Mae Mendoza completed her WIM requirements in the ninth round of the JAPFA Asean Chess Championship in Jakarta on Tuesday night.

Garcia, board 1 gold medalist for Ateneo in the UAAP, drew with Theolifus Taher Yoseph and climbed to 6.0 points, half a point up on Vietnamese IM Anh Khoi Nguyen, who won over Indonesian IM Winshand Cuhendi Sean.

Mendoza, the 2015 Fide World Schools girls’ 17-under champion, drew with Amanda Suci Frityani of Indonesia and rose to 6.5 points, half a point behind fellow Far Eastern University standout WIM Janelle Mae Frayna, who subdued WFM Dita Karenza, also of Indonesia.

The norm was the third and final WIM requirement for Mendoza, who only needs to increase her Elo (2091) to 2200 to get her WIM title.

Vietnamese WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen beat Indoesian WIM Chelsie Monica Ignesia Sihite and padded her Women’s division total to 8.0 points with two rounds to go.

WIM Bernadette Galas of La Salle also trounced her opponent, Malaysian WFM Hisham Nur Nahija Azman, to improve to 6.5 points.

Two other Filipinos, IM Paulo Bersamina and GM Darwin Laylo, occupied the fifth and 10th spots with 5.0 and 4.0 points, respectively.

Garcia forged a truce with veteran Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto while Laylo agreed to a draw with Vietnam’s tournament top seed GM Dao Thien Hai.