Mordido stops Canino in PNCC tourney

WOMAN Grandmaster-candidate Kylen Joy Mordido stopped teenage sensation Ruelle Canino’s upset rampage with a 34-move victory of an English Opening and seized a piece of the lead in the Philippine National Chess Championships dubbed “The Battle of Women’s Masters” on Wednesday at the City Hall of Malolos, Bulacan.

Mordido, who is the closest thing to follow the footstep of the country’s first and only WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, was like a tigress on the prowl, giving up a pawn and, when the 15-year-old Cagayan de Oro lass bit, the Dasmariñas bet quickly pounced on her helpless prey to launch a vicious kingside attack.

When it was over, Mordido was a rook up and two moves away from checkmating a flustered Canino.

That massive win forged Mordido a place at the lead alongside Canino, 2019 champion Jan Jodilyn Fronda, who downed fellow Woman International Master Bernadette Galas in 63 moves of a Caro-Kann, and Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Shania Mae Mendoza, a 42-move winner over Mhage Sebastian via a Sicilian duel.

WFM Cherry Ann Mejia missed out on claiming a share of the top spot after ending up with a marathon 72-move draw with WFM Allaney Jia Doroy of a King’s Indian Attack and settled for solo fifth with 3.5 points, or just half point off the pace.

The 11-round, 12-player tournament is staking a spot to the Asian Indoor Martial Games in Bangkok, Thailand, this November, three slots to the FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, this September and the top purse worth P85,000 courtesy of host Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad.

The top-seeded Frayna continued her struggles as she was held to a draw by unheralded Jarel Renz Lacambra and remained in the bottom half of the standings with just two points to show in this event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee.