Frayna and Fronda pursue IM Title in Banglore Chess Tournament

Philippine Chess players Janelle Mae Frayna and Jan Jodilyn Fronda pursue the International Masters (IM) title at the 1st Banglore Chess Tournament. They successfully defeated opponents in the first round of the Banglore Open Chess Tournament at Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in India.

Frayna and Fronda are two top female chess players from the Philippines. Frayna defeated Indian Arnav Dabhade and Fronda defeated Sri Lankan WIM S D Ranasinghe to pursue the IM Title in the first round. Hence, this win took them to a commanding 79-player lead with one point each.

However, Janelle Mae Frayna is the first and only Grandmaster player (GM) who has to achieve two more IM tournament wins and cross the 2400 rating mark to win an official International Masters title. She has a current rating of 2,197.

Frayna gained her first IM result at the 2016 FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. She made history by becoming the first Filipina to win a WGM (Woman Grandmaster) title.

She said her goal for this year is to play in more tournaments and campaigns in Europe. Frayna has also finished in third spot in the Philippine Championship in Marikina at the beginning of the month. Hence, it earned her a spot on the men’s team for the Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.

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Frayna is the 18th and top-ranked chess woman player in the 10-round chess tournament with 212 players. It included 31 Grandmaster Titles (GMs), 4 Woman Grandmaster Titles (WGMs), and other titled players.

However, Jan Jodilyn Fronda became the Woman International Master (WIM) champion in 2014. She is also an undefeated player in the round-robin event. She finished this event with six wins and seven draws.

Furthermore, Fronda is a licensed instructor of FIDE for 2022-2023. Her chess students know her as “Coch Jodi.” She also has a FIDE title of Woman International Master. She has a rating of 2,184.