So stuns Ukrainian superstar
Manila Standard Today
Friday, November 27, 2009
WESLEY So escaped near-defeat to eliminate Ukrainian superstar Vassily Ivanchuk in the second game of their two-game mini match and advanced into the third round of the World Cup Wednesday night at Khanty-Mansyisk.
So drew with Ivanchuk, recognized by chess experts as one of the most artistic players in the game, in 46 moves of a Slav Defense. Ivanchuk joined fourth seed Alexander Morozevich of Russia and fifth seed Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijian as the big losers in the World Cup after two rounds.
He finished with a score of 1.5-.5, after upsetting Ivanchuk in the first game on Tuesday. He will face American grandmaster Gata Kamsky, a former prodigy, who lost to Anatoly Karpov for the world championship in 1997, in the third round Friday.
Ivanchuk is the second super grandmaster So has scalped after a sensational win over Chinese ace Ni Hua in the 2008 Olympiad in Dresden. So has also drawn against two other superstars, Alexei Shirov of Spain and Sergey Karjakin of the Ukraine .
Kamsky eliminated Joey Antonio in the first round, and is considered by chess experts as the anti-thesis to So, who favors complicated play. Kamsky, eliminated in the final challengers match for the world title in 2008, is rock steady and cool in defense. Filipinos witnessed Kamsky’s grace under fire when he hung on in a bad position to beat the veteran Ruben Rodriguez in the 1992 Olympiad.
The 16-year-old So, a third-year high school student from Cavite and the youngest player in this qualifying event for the world championship, is in a spot where no Filipino player has entered before.
Source: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com
So can win the world cup. He’s good.
So vs. Kamsky is an interesting matchup.
Wesley So – 2 Gata Kamsky – 0.
Wesley So has Manny Pacquiao’s cold blood running through his brains.
Cool, fast and powerful.
Could send Kamsky to retirement too.
Look at Wesley’s eyes.
I will be scared too to play against him.
Kamsky might be shell shocked.
Now all that Wesley has to worry about is Gata’s dad Rustam, who was a champion boxer they say.
Never mind, 7 belt World boxing pound for pound Filipino champion Pacquiao is on his way to Russia.
Kamsky will retire after this
GO GO WESLEY
GO GO WESLEY