Frayna notches early win in Vietnam chess tourney

Woman National Master Janelle Mae Frayna stunned Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Turmunkh Munkhzul of Mongolia to start her bid on a bright note in the Girls’ Under-20 class of the 2012 Asean Age- Group Chess Championships Tuesday in Vietnam. Frayna earned her first point to lead the opening day winners in the tournament sanctioned by the Asian Chess Federa­tion. Using black pieces, Lennon Hart Salga­dos posted a shocking win over Fajar Fa­tikh Emas of Indonesia in the Boys’ Under- 20 category while Joel Pimentel outplayed compatriot FIDE Master (FM) Mari Joseph Turqueza in the other match.

Also scoring victories in the first round were Vince Angelo Medina over Sukaloon Daetdamlong of Laos in Open Under-16; FM Paulo Bersamina over Hoang Duc Nguyen of Vietnam in Open Under-14; Ronald Canino over Quoc Ky Nguyen of Vietnam in Open Under-10; and Jethro Aquino over The Van Nguyen of Vietnam in Open Under-8.

In other results, Bernadette Galas beat WFM Hoang Minh Tho Do of Vietnam and Mira Mirano thumped another local bet Nguyen Thuy Dung Phan in Girls’ Under- 16; Shania Mae Mendoza whipped com­patriot Ella Grace Moulic in Girls’ Under- 14; Alexis Anne Osena ripped Ngoc Doan Trang Nguyen of Vietnam in Girls’ Under- 12; and Methusellah Ramos toppled Vu Hanh Duyen Bui of Vietnam in Girls’ U­8. (E.Noguera, MT)