So returns, places 5th in Aeroflot blitz chess
02/18/2011 05:11 PM
A few days’ rest was enough for Wesley So to regain his swagger as he finished a fighting fifth in the Aeroflot Open blitz chess championship at the Hotel Gamma-Delta in Moscow, Russia on Thursday.
The 17-year-old Filipino champion, who withdrew from the tournament proper due to exhaustion, scored six wins to finish in a two-way tie for fifth to sixth places with GM Nikita Vitiugov of Russia with 13 points.
The 23rd-seeded So finished 1.5 points behind eventual champion GM Shakhiyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, who had 14.5 points, and one point behind runner-up GM Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, who had 14 points.
He defeated Russians Piort Korobkov, and GMs Vitaly Kunin and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Argentine GM Ruben Felgaer, Spanish GM Francisco Vallejo Pons and Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem.
He drew his matches against IM Aleksei Pridorozhni of Russia, GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Ponomariov.
GM Darwin Laylo, who shared the Group B title with Armenian GM Tigran Kotanjian and Russian GM Nikolai Kabanov last Wednesday, struggled and finished tied for 134th to 150th with three wins (7.5 points).
Two other Filipino campaigners finished in the upper half of the standings in the tournament that attracted 194 players, including 111 GMs and 32 International Maters from 34 countries.
Moscow Open runner-up IM Oliver Barbosa and IM Richard Bitoon finished tied for 55th to 66th places (10 points), while IM Oliver Dimakiling wound up tied for 87th to 98th places (9.0 points).
GM John Paul Gomez and National Master Paulo Bersamina did not compete.
The Filipinos are scheduled to return to Manila on February 20. – JVP, KY, GMA News
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv
I don’t understand this blog’s obsession with Wesley So. So is a great talent, but his activities are covered here as if he were Justin Bieber. Anish Giri is a more exciting young player, and he doesn’t get a quarter of the coverage that is given to So.
Not a complaint, just an observation. Keep up the great work, Susan!
Good observation and the reason is simple. There is a lot more media coverage (especially from the Philippines) of So. There have been many 2600+ players from Holland (Timman, Van Wely, Smeets, Tiviakov, L’Ami, etc.), including a late World Champion. So is the best ever from the Philippines. The Filipino supporters are hoping So can boost the popularity in their country.
Best wishes,
Susan
Justin Beiber doesn’t swagger like Wesley So.
So there!
Carlsen is Mozart of chess, So is Justin Bieber of chess, it makes sense to me.