By Ram Christian Agustin
After scalping Woman FIDE Master Sonja Maria Bluhm with a Caro-Kann Defense, Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales, coach of International Master John Marvin Miciano and WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, downed second seed GM Jordan Van Foreest of the Netherlands in just 40 moves of an English Opening to snare second spot behind Argentinian GM Sandro Mareco of Argentina during the seventh round of the 22nd Hogeschool Zeeland chess tournament in Vlissingen, the Netherlands Thursday.
Van Foreest’s passive opening play was seized into a positional advantage by the 49-year-old Gonzales who extracted a full point and upped his total to six points, earning him a piece of the second spot.
Meanwhile, Mareco vanquished Chinese GM Wang Yungu, earning the top seed the solo lead with 6.5 points before the concluding two rounds of the nine-round tournament featuring 240 players from 19 countries, including 12 GMs, 16 IMs and 14 FIDE Masters.
Frayna, 22, launched another English Duel and blasted Dutch International Master Merijn Van Delft who used coffeehouse tactics in 30 moves as she penetrated the top 10 with 5.5 points.
Frayna, who is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and The Philippine STAR president and chief executive officer Miguel Belmonte, easily translated her piece into a full point.