Phl chessers fall in world jrs

MANILA, Philippines - Jan Fronda and Jerad Docena succumbed to their higher-rated opponents and tumbled down the standings in the penultimate round of the World Junior Chess Championship in Kocaeli, Turkey yesterday.

Fronda lost to Woman GM Wang Jue of China after 34 moves of the Sicilian defense while Docena lost to Fide Master Vitaly Meribanov of Belarus in 35 moves of another Sicilian.

With 6.5 points, Fronda fell 3.5 points behind Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia, who subdued fellow WGM Meri Arabidze of Georgia in a marathon 101-mover of a Dutch Defense for 9.5 points.

Docena stood at six points, 4.5 points off top seed GM Yu Yangyi of China, who beat GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia after 62 moves of the Sicilian defense to keep the lead at 10.5 points.