Wesley So wins opening match in World Chess qualifier
abs-cbnNEWS.com 05/14/2009 5:50 PM
The Philippines’ teen chess whiz Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So led a host of Filipino contenders in the Asian Continental Chess Challenge as he posted a win during his opening match at the Subic Freeport Zone in Olongapo City.
The 15-year-old Filipino GM, the second seed in the tournament, beat Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa of Mongolia in the opening round.
So, who emerged over-all champion in the Battle of GMs last April, has an ELO rating of 2641 while Gundavaa has 2461.
The Filipino GM is looking for a good finish in the 11-round tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the World Chess Championships in Russia.
So will face Chinese GM Shaoteng Yu (ELO 2504) in the second round. The contender from China defeated Haridas Pascua (ELO 2359) in the first round.
Other Filipino participants who recorded wins in the first round were GM John Paul Gomez (ELO 2465) who defeated Fide Master K Priyadharshan (ELO 2411) of India; and, GM Buenaventura Villamayor (ELO 2474) who vanquished Hoang Nam Nguyen (ELO 2281) of Vietnam.
Filipino International Master (IM) Julio Catalino Sadorra also scored a notable win over fourth seed GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (ELO 2626) of Kazakhstan.
Top seed GM Krishnan Sasikiran (ELO 2682) of India defeated GM Jayson Gonzales (ELO 2465).
Third seed Jianchao Zhou (ELO 2635) drew with compatriot Liren Ding (ELO 2458).
Meanwhile, Filipino GMs Eugenio “Eugene” Torre, Rogelio Antonio Jr., and Mark Paragua also agreed to split a point with their respective opponents.
Willie Abalos, executive director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, said the competition is one of the toughest they have had so far organized.
“We have competitors coming from chess heavyweight countries like China, Iran and India,” he said.
He added that a total of $50,000 worth of prizes will be given away in the tournament with the $6,000 lion’s share going to the over-all champion.
Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com
Go Wesley!
So lost his second round game to Yu Shaoteng. Wonder if this will be posted as well…
“The Filipino GM is looking for a good finish in the 11-round tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the World Chess Championships in Russia.”
Umm, what World Championship in Russia??? Surely you mean World Cup.
World Cup – World Championship,
HUGE difference.