Frayna keeps PNWCC lead despite draw with Lavandero; Canino gains

JANELLE MAE FRAYNA settled for a fighting draw with Maria Lavandero to stay on top even as Ruelle Canino downed Mhage Sebastian rekindle her once flickering title hopes in Thursday’s sixth round of the Philippine National Women’s Chess Championship (PNWCC) in Malolos, Bulacan.

The draw, a 40-move, Alekhine duel, kept Ms. Frayna well-perched at the helm with five points, or a full point ahead of a three-player chase pack spearheaded by the 18-year-old Ms. Canino, whose 51-move destruction of Ms. Sebastian in a French clash catapulted her back to contention.

It was the third win in a row for Ms. Canino after a debilitating start that saw her drawing her first-round assignment from a completely winning position and dropping the next one.

And now the 2025 ASEAN Individual Championships silver winner is back where she was expected to be.

Part of that second group included former national champion Jan Jodilyn Fronda, who played with fire versus Kate Ordizo but got burned and suffered a searing 58-move defeat of a French encounter.

Bernadette Galas likewise climbed to No. 2 after splitting the point with Vic Derotas in 30 moves of a Queen’s Gambit.

Still in the race were Ms. Ordizo, reigning national junior girls champion Heart Padilla, Allaney Jia Doroy and Cherry Ann Mejia.

With nine more rounds to go, all are expected to up the ante as they shoot for one of the three tickets to the World Chess Olympiad slated Sept. 15 to 28 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. — Joey Villar