World Chess Cup: So wins but Antonio, Laylo lose
11/22/2009 03:16 PM
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia – GM Wesley So moved into a good position to march into the next round as he hurdled his first match in the 2009 World Chess Cup Sunday at the Khanty- Mansiysk Center of Arts.
So, seeded 59th in this tough 128-player field with an ELO of 2640, played almost flawlessly with the advantageous white pieces to bring down GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan (ELO 2625).
The 15-year-old campaigner from St. Francis College (Cavite) needs only to draw against Guseinov in the second of their two-game encounter late Sunday to advance to the 64-player second round.
Guseinov, seeded No. 70, is one of 46 players who earned a ticket to the World Cup through the tough European Championships.
But the two other Filipino campaigners – GMs Rogelio Antonio, Jr. and Darwin Laylo – were not as fortunate.
Antonio, the most-experienced player in the three-man Filipino delegation in the knockout-style tournament being held in this Scandinavian-like resort town in Western Siberia, lost to defending champion and No. 27 seed GM Gata Kamsky of the US.
Kamsky is one of only three players seeded into the tournament for his participation in the 2007 World Cup.
And Laylo, who clinched his second straight trip to the World Cup by topping the Asian Zone 3.3 championship in Vietnam also this year, bowed to No. 21 seed GM David Navara of Czech Republic.
Both Antonio (ELO 2574) and Laylo (ELO 2552) now need to win the second game of their first-round appearance to send their respective pairings into knockout stages.
On the other hand, another loss to Kamsky and Navara will mean outright elimination for the two Filipino players.
Top seed GM Boris Gelfand of Israel also opened his campaign on a bright note, beating IM Andrei Obodchuk of Russia.
Second seed GM Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan defeated IM Walaa Sarwat of Egypt while third seed GM Peter Svidler of Russia whipped IM Jean Hebert of Candada.
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv
Go Wesley!