Hard work is a talent
WGM JANELLE MAE FRAYNA
WGM Janelle Mae Frayna continues her story:
“I could vividly remember how I ended up playing chess in his newly established chess school in Quezon City. My mom (though she wasn’t even a chess player herself) knew that in order for me to improve the quality of my games, I have to play against stronger players. Although I paid regular visits to our local chess club we knew it was not enough. During summer vacation she googled for tournaments where I can compete in Manila.
“After a whirlwind experience, GM Jayson became my chess coach. I was not as talented as most of my teammates were; I was not a champion kid yet I got a champion’s heart! Different people and institutions helped and are continuously helping me to further reach my dreams. Our dream is for me to become a Grandmaster not just a Woman Grandmaster. Coach has made me believe in my chess prowess. I admit that my eventual achievement of the WGM title (I was already 20 when I got it) was not as spectacular compared to other foreign players. But this is a wake-up call for the other Filipina chess players that we can also make waves in the chess scenes. It is my sincere hope that more kids and of course more women are going to engage in serious chess. It would be a fulfilling day for Philippine Chess to create an environment that encourages healthy competition among the youth, men and women.”
As you may have noticed WGM Janelle is still very young but she definitely thinks like an adult!
One of the big achievements of the Philippine Women’s chess team is their 2.5-1.5 upset of Women’s World Team Champion Georgia. I will let her tell you about it.
“This match was against the 4th seed Georgian Team and the reigning World Team Chess Champions! The Philippine team, being paired with a much higher rated opponent, was feeling more motivated to prove our might against countries considered as chess giants.
Slav, my game plan was just to play solidly and avoid creating unnecessary weaknesses. GM Dzagnidze is Georgia’s longtime board 1 and ranked among the World Top 10 Women. I had no illusions — holding the draw against her will be a difficult task!
Seldom played by her. Actually, according to my database she has never played this position yet!
The mainline of the Exchange Slav 6...Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5
8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Qb5 Nc4! 11.Nf3 Rc8!N the more challenging option (11...e6 previous game 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nh5 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bh4 g5 16.g4 gxh4 17.gxh5 Rc8 18.Qxd7+ Kxd7 19.Rg1 Bb4 20.Kd2 Rhg8 21.Kd3 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Ke7 23.h3 Rxg1 24.Rxg1 Rc4 25.Rb1 b6 26.Rb4 Rxb4 27.cxb4 Kd7 28.b5 Ke8 29.Kd4 ½–½ (29) Seirawan,Y (2595)-Khalifman,A (2560) Moscow 1990) 12.Ne5 (12.Rc1 e6 13.0–0 Qxb5 14.Nxb5 a6 15.Nc3 Nh5 typical dark squared bishop elimination. Black is slightly better) 12... Qxb5 13.Nxb5 a6 14.Nxc4 dxc4 15.Nc3 b5 16.f3 e6 17.e4 Be7 it is not clear who has the advantage here.
8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Bb5 e6 (9...Nc6 or a decent alternative) 10. Nf3 a6 ( 10... Nc4 should also suffice) 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12.0– 0 Be7 13.Rfc1 (13.Rac1 Nc6 14.Qb3 Qb6 15.Qc2 0–0 16.Na4 Qb5 17.Bc7?! Nb4 18.Qb3 Nd3 19.Rc3 Rfc8 Black is only slightly better; 13.Nd2 Rc8 14.Rac1 b5 15.Qd1 0–0 16.a4 Qb6N 17.axb5 axb5 18.Qe2 b4 19.Na4 Qb7 20. b3 Rc6! still drawish but far from a dead draw) 13... Nc4 14. e4 0– 0 15. exd5 Ndb6 16. Qc2 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. b3 Nd6 equal.
[7.Be2!? is Dreev’s recomendation in his recent book Bf4 in the Queen’s Gamibit and Exchange Slav]
I think this move handed white small but stable advantage. My light squared bishop was a bit insecure, it has limited squares available for it. 7...Bg4 8.Nge2 (8.f3 Bh5 9.Nge2 Bg6 Technique #24– The Bishop zigzag: neutralizing the good bishop) 8...e6 Try to find the right plans in an equal position like this.
The game somehow resembles the London System with an early central pawn exchange.
Since my bishop has nowhere to go. 10... Bf5 11.Bxf5 gxf5 12.Qc2 e6 is solid but quite passive for me.
White is doing well.
Desperation as I got too uncomfortable with my position. Somehow I felt the need to unbalance the static nature of the game.
There was no need to sacrifice anything. 15.Bh2 f5 16.Nc5 Nxc5 17.bxc5 keeps an edge.
This is a typical queen and knight attack.
Too much of a reactionist. Better was 16...Nf6 as there was an urgent need to attend to the lack of coordination of my pieces. Especially my Nd7, at the same time guarding potential entry squares of the her majesty. 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Nc5 e5 this would have been a much better version of the variation that would have happened to happen in my game. 19.Ne6 (19.Bf5 Rb8 20.Nxb7 Rxb7 21.Rxc6 with tremendous pressure) 19...Qd6 20.Nxf8 Rxf8 Bobby Fischer called this creating a “dynamic imbalance.”
Better was 18.Ngxe6 fxe6 19.Nxe6 Qd6 20.Nxf8 Rxf8 White wins. The difference with the earlier analysis was that, here White captured the crucial e6 pawn and there was no counterplay available for Black. 21.Qc2 (21.Qe2 e5 22.dxe5 Nxe5 23.Rfd1, Black has too many weaknesses) 21...Rc8 22.Qc5.
ala Karpov
Both sides were trying to fix the loopholes on our positions. Consolidation.
Not necessary but this move was made when we were already in time pressure. If she had more time to think perhaps Nana would have continued 22.Nxd7 Rxc1 23.Qxc1 Qxd7 (23...Nbxd7 24.Bxb5) 24.Qc5.
Equal for the two players. The material imbalance gave us double-edged chances.
At this point we were already in time scramble. So in the next moves there were lots of inaccuracies from both sides.
Better is 29.Qe1.
[31.Nxc6 Qxc6 32.Rb2 e5 33.Qh5 would have maintained the balance]
And here I fail to take advantage of White’s inaccuracy. After 31...Qa8 32.Qe1 Ra7 33.Qa1 Kf7 34.Qc1 Ra5 my chances would have been better.
Finally e5 was achieved!
I was more afraid of 38.axb5! The 4 pawns is more than enough compensation for the roo as Black lacks mobility. Let us see: 38... Bxb3 39.Rxb3 Qa5 (39...Rxb5 is not possible 40.Rxb5 Rxb5 41.Qe8+) 40.b6 White is close to winning, if not won.
Drawn by repetition but actually, I even had the upperhand!
The Philippine Team won against Georgia 2.5–1.5 - It was WIM Secopito-Perena, playing on board 4 who nailed an important win. We waited for hours for her game to finish. Later, in the bus on our way back to the hotel the final position popped up in my mind and I had that “Ahhh” moment when I realized I could have continued with 43...Re3. After 44.Kg2 (44.Rf2 Be6 45.Qb1 Qxf4 46.d5 Qg3+ 47.Rg2 Qxf3 48.dxe6 Rd3) 44...Be6 45.Qg6 Qxf4 Black is clearly winning now. Exhaustion and pressure crept in. I wasn’t able to regain my composure after having several bad positions during the course of the game. LESSON: If you find a draw, also take time to look for a WIN.]
Well, I missed an excellent opportunity to play on a better position but overall I was still very happy for the team’s success!