Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category

MANILA, Philippines — A well rested Filipino GM Wesley Barbasa So is looking for his first win in the 72nd Corus international chess championship group B as he battles Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna in the 5th round at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands.

The 16-year-old So, 2009 Corus C group champion, drew his first four round assignment against top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, GM Erwin l’Ami of the Netherlands, GM Varuzhan Akobian of the United States and GM Parimarjan Negi of India. Read the rest of this entry »

GM Wesley So played the white pieces for the first time in the Corus B tournament in Holland against GM Varuzhan Akobian of the U.S.

So (ELO 2656) has been expanding his opening repertoire and utilized the Queen’s Gambit. Akobian entered the endgame with a disadvantageous fractured pawn structure. The American defended well and the game ended in a draw after 33 moves with Akobian having two rooks and three pawns to So’s Queen and four pawns. Read the rest of this entry »

Filipino chess prodigy Wesley So’s first two games in the prestigious Corus B tournament in Holland ended in draws. In his second game today against Dutch GM Erwin L’Ami, So played the black pieces and used the Queen’s gambit accepted rather than his usual Slav defense against d4. Read the rest of this entry »

Buoyed by his personal career-high ELO rating of 2656, last year’s Group C champion GM Wesley So expressed confidence about his chances two days before he departs for Netherlands to compete in the 72nd Corus international chess championship.

“I’m ready. It’s a big challenge for me, but I will try my best,” said So, who will leave for for Wijk aan Zee via KLM Airlines. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Sixteen-year-old Grandmaster Wesley So continued to raise the level of excellence when he reached ELO 2656 based on the Jan. 1 ratings released by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

With his strong showing in the recent World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia where he eliminated former world championship finalists Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Gata Kamsky of the United States, So earned 16 points to increase his ELO 2640 from the November list to ELO 2656. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The year 2009 is almost over but for the Philippines’ brightest chess hope, Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So, his phenomenal chess career is just beginning.

This comes after the World Chess Federation (FIDE) released on Saturday the expected rating change of the 16-year-old whiz kid from Bacoor, Cavite, who will be back in the world’s top 100 players next month. He was ousted from the world’s top 100 list in the November 2009 FIDE rating chart.

So, whose current ELO rating is 2640, is expected to have the rating of 2656 when the January 1, 2010 FIDE-RP rating list is released in a few days. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Four Filipino chess players based in the United States made respectable finishes in a series of chess tournaments held in the US.

The Virginia-based FIDE Master (FM) Anton Paolo del Mundo, a former Ateneo de Manila University stalwart, won the 14th annual Northern Virginia Chess Championships in Arlington.

Del Mundo finished in a tie for 1st place with FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat of Mongolia and International Master (IM) Adu Oladapo of Nigeria after tallying 4.5 points each in five outings. Read the rest of this entry »

KHANTY-Mansiysk, Russia – GM Wesley So of the Philippines authored one of the biggest upset wins in the 2009 World Chess Cup when he pulled the rug from under former world championship contender GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the second round at the Khanty-Mansiysk Festival of Arts here.

Buoyed by his convincing 4-1 win over GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan in the first round, So outclassed the sixth-seeded Ivanchuk (ELO 2739) in 39 moves in the first of their two-game match in the 64-player second round. Read the rest of this entry »