So raring to play in SPICE chessfest
| by Ed Andaya |
| Wednesday, 06 October 2010 19:58 |
AFTER a brief rest, GM Wesley So will continue his campaign to surpass the ELO 2700 rating by taking part in another major international tournament later this month Buoyed by a respectable showing in the recent 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, So will participate in the 2010 SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Group A tournament scheduled Oct. 28-Nov. 7 at the Texas Tech University in the United States. So, who will turn 17 years old this coming Saturday, emerged as the Filipinos’ leading scorer in Khanty-Mansiysk with 6.5 points on three wins and seven draws in only his third Olympiad appearance since 2006 Turin and 2008 Dresden — and first on the top board. It will be the second straight year that So will see action in the prestigious, category 16 SPICE tournament organized by well-known women’s champion and chess ambassador Susan Polgar. The multi-awarded campaigner from Bacoor, Cavite will be seeded third in the six-player competition which also include GM Zoltan Almasi (ELO 2707) of Hungary, GM Alexander Onishuk (ELO 2688 ) of the United States, GM Georg Meier (ELO 2659) of Germany, GM Ray Robson (ELO 2539) of the United States and GM Eugene Perelshteyn (ELO 2528) of the United States. Aside from So, Almasi and Onischuk also participated in the Olympiad for their respective countries. Almasi, who played board two behind GM Peter Leko, finished with seven points on five wins, four draws and one loss for Hungary, while Onischuk, who played board three behind GM Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky, wound up with two wins, seven draws and one loss. “It’s really a big honor for me to be invited to play in the SPICE tournament for the second straight year,” said the 16-year-old So, who finished fourth overall behind GMs Rauf Mamedov, Dmitry Andreikin and Yuriy Kuzobov last year. “The SPICE Cup is one of the biggest international invitational tournaments in the United States regularly held in the beautiful Texas Universiy campuses,” added So, who now stays at the De la Salle University dormitory on Taft Ave. following the migration of his family to Canada last month. In the SPICE Cup, a win is worth three points, a draw one point and a loss zero. A draw is also not allowed in less than 30 moves. Actually, the SPICE tournament will be So’s eighth major chess tournament this year. |
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First board for Canada next year?
I hope not. The Philippines needs him for top board in the next 18 Olympiads (to break Torre’s 20).
I can’t wait see GM So in person! If I am not able to play in the Open tournament at least I will be able to see these top players! Thank you so much Susan for facilitating this event for us here in West Texas!
I hope he and the family now move south down to USA. Although Canada is a wonderful country.
I expect a great future for So.
We’ll see. Wesley So is a talent, but he needs the guidance of a world class GM at a world class chess institute. Stay tuned true believers!