Docena, Fronda bounce back in world jr chess

MANILA, Philippines - Jerad Docena and Jan Jodilyn Fronda rebounded from opening round setbacks with big victories in the second round as they wheeled back into contention in the World Juniors Chess Championship in Turkey yesterday.

Docena, who dropped his first match to Russian IM Andrey Stukopin, beat local bet Mert Kilic in the boys’ division while Fronda edged Shyngys Kyzy Aijarkyn of Kyrgyzstan to atone for her earlier loss to WGM Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan in the girls’ side.

The Filipino bets hope to sustain their fightback as Docena plays IM Richard Wang of Canada in the third round and Fronda clashes with WGM Rout Padmini of India.

Docena and Fronda topped the recent National Junior chess championships to gain berths in the World Juniors.

IM Yves Ranola is the Filipino campaigners’ coach with the group’s campaign backed by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, Bayan Muna Party-list group, Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.

GM Yu Yangyi of China and WGM Alina Kashlinskaya, both of Russia, are the tournament top seeds.