Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna drew with Woman FIDE Master Umida Omonova of Uzbekistan to remain in striking distance with the big guns after nine rounds of the 17-round Women's World Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan Thursday, Dec. 29.
The split sent the country’s top female woodpusher in an 11-tie for 20th place with 5.5 points apiece while keeping her in the hunt to catch up with the leaders with seven rounds to go.
Pacing the 99-strong field were Russian-born Valentina Gunina and Polina Shuvalova, who were both representing FIDE, with 7.5 points each.
Gunina halved the point with compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina while Shuvalova shocked 10th seed GM Harika Dronavalli.
Frayna was battling WIM Nazerke Nurgali of Kazakhstan in the 10th round at press time.
Frayna got off to a strong start after scoring 2.5 points in the first three rounds, dropped two straight games to Gunina and Mongolian WIM Turmunkh Munkhzul in the next two rounds before regaining her composure by scoring two straight triumphs over English WIM Yao Lan and American WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan.
She then drew with sixth seed IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran before ending up with the same result against Omonova.
Frayna was hoping to improve on her lethargic effort in the rapid section of the event a few days ago when she wound up with just 4.5 points in 11 rounds for a 75th-place finish out of 98 participants.