WOMAN Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna opens her title defense as the Philippine National Women’s Championships presented by Nova Wellness Store gets going at the PACE in Mindanao Ave., Quezon City.
Frayna, 25, looms as the early favorite to reign supreme anew, having won last year’s edition of the nine-day tournament staking a total cash purse worth P140,000 with the lion’s share of P50,000 going to the champion courtesy of Nova president Travis Vincent Chua.
The event, sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines headed by Prospero Pichay Jr., will also be part of the selection process for the national team seeing action in several international meets, including the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games in Thailand next year.
Expected to give Frayna a run for her money are fellow Olympiad veterans Woman International Masters Jan Jodilyn Fronda, Bernadette Galas and Marie Antoinette San Diego and Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza.
Also in the fold are Vic Glysen Derotas, Mary Joy Tan, Franchesca Largo, April Joy Claros, Ayana Usman, Bea Mendoza and Kate Nicole Ordizo, with NCFP CEO GM Jayson Gonzales as tournament director and Reden Cruz as chief arbiter.
