So’s busy year

So vying in SPICE chess
by Ed Andaya
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 19:46

GM Wesley So’s busy year continues next month.

After the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this month, So will take part 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.

It will be the second straight year that So, who will turn 17 on Oct. 9, will see action in the prestigious, category 16 tournament organized by chess champion-instructor Susan Polgar.

The multi-awarded Filipino campaigner with an ELO of 2668 will be seeded third in the six-player competition which also included 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.

“It’s a big honor for me to participate in the SPICE tournament for the second straight year,” said 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 University campus,” said So, who is also scheduled to leave on Sept. 9 for a week-long vacation in Toronto, Canada where his family is now based.

A win is worth three points, a draw one point and a loss zero in the tournament, which disallows a draw in less than 30 moves.

This will be So’s seventh major chess tournament this year.

Here is the full article.