The FIDE World Cup run of Grandmaster Mark Paragua and Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna ended swiftly on Monday, July 31, after succumbing in their opening-round assignments in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Paragua bowed to a higher-rated Jergus Pechac of Slovakia while Frayna yielded to Southeast Asian Games rival Medina Warda Aulia of Indonesia with similar 1.5-0.5 scores to kiss their title chances goodbye in the star-studded competition. After dropping the first of the two-game duel with the black pieces Sunday, July 30, both Paragua and Frayna went all out for the win with the white pieces but ended up getting outfoxed in the opening and nursed slightly disadvantageous positions. But in the end, both agreed to settle with draws knowing it was nearly impossible to scrape a win out of their positions. The pair of heartbreakers left Grandmaster Wesley So, who was born in Cavite but is now representing the United States, in the event that serves as a doorway to the Candidates Matches where the challenger to current world champion Ding Liren of China will be selected. So drew a first-round bye and will play the winner between Emre Cam of Turkey and Luis Ernesto Quesada Perez of Cuba, who were currently tied, 1-all, and were playing in a tiebreaker with faster time control at press time. END IT.
*Janelle Mae Frayna loses in the first round of the FIDE World Cup to kiss her title chances goodbye. (File Photo)
*Paragua bowed to a higher-rated Jergus Pechac of Slovakia while Frayna yielded to Southeast Asian Games rival Medina Warda Aulia of Indonesia with similar 1.5-0.5 scores to kiss their title chances goodbye in the star-studded competition. After dropping the first of the two-game duel with the black pieces Sunday, July 30, both Paragua and Frayna went all out for the win with the white pieces but ended up getting outfoxed in the opening and nursed slightly disadvantageous positions. But in the end, both agreed to settle with draws knowing it was nearly impossible to scrape a win out of their positions. The pair of heartbreakers left Grandmaster Wesley So, who was born in Cavite but is now representing the United States, in the event that serves as a doorway to the Candidates Matches where the challenger to current world champion Ding Liren of China will be selected. So drew a first-round bye and will play the winner between Emre Cam of Turkey and Luis Ernesto Quesada Perez of Cuba, who were currently tied, 1-all, and were playing in a tiebreaker with faster time control at press time. END IT.