It’s a draw for Wesley
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 00:00
Ed Andaya
GM Wesley So of the Philippines played well enough to win, but missed a couple of chances in the endgame and settled for a draw with GM Liren Ding of China in the first round of the 2011 World Chess Cup at the newly-buolt Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia here Sunday.
So, one of the biggest revelations in the world’s biggest chess stage two years ago, held the advantage for most part of the tensely-fought contest but failed find the knockout punch and finally agreed to split the point with his lower-rated but equally-talented Chinese rival in 41 moves of the King’s Indian defense.
The 17-year-old So, who is seeded 64th in the prestigious, 128-player, seven-round tournament organized by FIDE, blew what experts consider as a ‘slim but very good endgame advantage’s largely due to Liren’s solid and accurate continuation.
The draw came after So’s 41. Kxe3, which brought about an equal position where both players had a rook, knight and five pawns each. So’s last move followed an exchange of the queens after the first time control.
Another Filipino campaigner, GM Mark Paragua, was not as fortunate.
Paragua did his best but still lost to GM Michael Adams of England. In 37 moves of the Nimzo Indian.
“A very good middlegame by (Wesley) So, and fantastic fighting spirit from Ding Liren. The initial weak opening by Liren gave So all the chances for a full point, but he missed it after consecutive inaccuracies in time trouble,” said Chessdom analyst GM Alexander Ipatov.
“Surely an interesting second game between the two young talents expects us tomorrow (Monday).”
The pride of Bacoor, Cavite, will now have to win over Liren with the disadvantageous black pieces in the second d game of their two-game first-round showdown starting at 3 p.m. (Khanty-Mansiysk time) on Monday.
The multi-awarded Filipino champion needs a win over Liren to set up a potential blockbuster second-round showdown against top seed GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia, who defeated No. 128 seed IM Medji Kaabi of Tunisia in 31 moves of the Queen’s pawn opening.
Also awaiting So in a potential third-round showdown are GM Sergei Movsesian (ELO 2700) of, Armenia, GM Judit Polgar (ELO 2699) of Hungary, GM Fidel Corrales (ELO 2585) of Cuba and reigning women’s world champion Hou Yifan. (ELO 2575) of China.
So, who played white, and Liren played the King’s Indian, one of the most-explored openings in chess today.
More here.
So rules in rapid.