Jemaica Yap Mendoza, a 14-year-old Woman FIDE Master from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, is on the cusp of achieving a rare and historic feat in Philippine chess – become a world champion.
Mendoza came tantalizingly close to achieving such a feat after beating Azerbaijan’s Saadat Bashirli to reclaim the solo lead after the 10th and penultimate round of the girls’ Under-14 section of the World Youth Championships in Durres, Albania Tuesday.
The Eastern Asia Youth Championship gold winner outlasted Bashirli in 61 moves of their Ruy Lopez duel despite losing a pawn in the middle game and being threatened with a dangerous queenside passed pawn.
But Mendoza, a protégé of Olympiad veteran Shania Mae Mendoza, miraculously found a way as her Azeri foe wilted under pressure and blundered a piece in the end that allowed the wily Filipina extract the full point.
This put her one step closer to claiming the world title and the distinction as the first to win in this event.
But she has to come through again versus third seed WFM Polina Smirnova, a Russian who represents FIDE, in the final round Wednesday night.
Mendoza currently has 8.5 points, or half a point ahead of Smirnova and Uzbekistan’s Rukiya Olimova.
Mendoza actually held that solo lead after the seventh round but she fell to Serbian WFM Vera Vujovic in the eighth and lost it.
She, however, quickly bounced back from it with two straight wins including this one over Bashirli.