Eyeing the Quarterfinal

Filipino Wesley So (2640) hopes to do something no Filipino has done in 26 years, when the 16-year-old chess prodigy guns for a seat in the quarterfinal round against Russian GM Vladimir Malakhov in the 2009 World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts in Russia.

So is eyeing to replicate the feat of GM Eugene Torre who made the Last 8 round of the 1983 World Chess Championship in Alicante, Spain against Hungrarian GM Zoltan Ribli.

The 22nd-seeded Malakhov (ELO 2706) earned the right to meet the 59th-seeded So when he knocked out GM Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine, 4-1, with three of the victories coming in the tiebreak rapid matches.

“I know that I should always do my best in the classical games of each round. If I win one game, I’m almost there,” said So, who is already assured of US $30,000 (about P1.46M) by reaching the last 16.

So, who got a one day rest after finishing off defending champion GM Gata Kamsky, 1.5-.5, in their two-game showdown Saturday, spent most of his time studying the previous games on Malakhov, informed GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., who along with GM Darwin Laylo, are now assisting So.

Antonio and Laylo lost in the first round.

Antonio said So will definitely go for the win against Malakhov in the first game to gain an early psychological advantage “just like what he did against Ivanchuk and Kamsky.”

The winner of the So-Malakhov encounter will then meet the victor of the GM Peter Svidler-Alexei Shirov match.