IM Miciano, WGM Frayna half a point off the pace in The Netherlands chessfest

INTERNATIONAL Master (IM) John Marvin Miciano downed Dutch Sven Stange to remain at the helm even as Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Janelle Mae Frayna drew with GM Oleg Romanishin of Ukraine to stay half a point off the pace after three rounds of the 22nd Hogeschool Zeeland Chess tournament 2018 in Vlissingen, The Netherlands Sunday night.

The 17-year-old Miciano, whose others wins came at the expense of Dutch Henk Burg and Singaporean Mei-En Emmanuelle Hng, kept his stranglehold of the lead along with 15 others headed by top two seeds GMs Sandro Mareco of Argentina and Eduard Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela with three points apiece.

The Far Eastern University standout was aiming to stay up there as was playing with GM Xeng Chongsheng of China in the fourth round as of press time.

The 22-year-old Frayna, who trounced The Netherlands’ Romayn Brandsma and Bart Feltman in the first two rounds, for her part, was bunched in the second group with 2.5 points each and was tackling another Dutch IM Max Warmerdam.

It was a group that also included GM Jayson Gonzales, the coach of both Miciano and Frayna who turned back the Netherlands’ Loek Van de Hagen and Guido Wagenvoorde before split the point with another Dutch Erik Sparenberg.

The 49-year-old Gonzales was battling FIDE Master Warre De Waele of Belgium.

This is the fourth tournament of Frayna, whose trip is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and The Philippines Star President and Chief Executive Officer Miguel Belmonte, Miciano and Gonzales as part of the six-tournament, 51-day trip that ends in the Malaysian Open in Malaysia two weeks from now.