Picture was taken on campus at Webster University in St. Louis
7th Chess.Com Death Match: Robson vs. So
By Daniel Rensch
June 22, 2012
Chess.com’s 7th Blitz “Match of Death” will take place on Sunday, July 29th at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) time. The match features the highest rated player in Filipino history, Grandmaster Wesley So, against the youngest Grandmaster in American history, Ray Robson.
Both So and Robson are ranked in the top 20 in the world on the current FIDE Top Juniors list, and both can boast many international and nationals chess accomplishments. Wesley So, the “favorite on paper” became a Grandmaster at the age of 14, was the winner of the Corus Wijk Aan Zee International chess tournament (C-Group) in January 2009, and is currently ranked just outside the top 100 in the world.
GM Ray Robson
Born in Guam, but a “Florida Native”, Ray Robson became America’s youngest Grandmaster Elect in history in October of 2009. Ray has been considered one of the brightest chess stars in America since the age of 12, has won numerous national scholastic titles and competed in multiple US Chess Championships.
This exciting matchup pins two of the world’s brightest young stars against each other, but perhaps just as interesting is that it pins two “future teammates” — as both will be attending Webster University in the fall, competing for the SPICE team in all collegiate and Pan-American events.
All the action will be covered live on Chess.com/TV, with live commentary by IM Daniel Rensch and other special guests. The broadcast is open to all members of Chess.com! To review all the rules/details of Chess.com’s Blitz Chess Death Matches, click here. For results of Chess.com last Death Match (featuring GM Gawain Jones against GM Robert Hess), click here.
This is actually the second time two future Webster University teammates faced each in a match. Co-captain GM Georg Meier and GM Wesley So duked it out in Chicago earlier this year at the North Shore Chess Center. They tied 2-2 in the classical portion. Meier edged So by the score of 2.5 – 1.5 in the rapid portion. After the match, the entire Webster University Chess Team flew to St. Louis to visit Webster University for the first time. Here are the pictures from that event.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Go Ray!