So shines again

Wesley So shines again
By Frank 'Boy' Pestaño and Frank 'Boy' Pestaño
Chessmoso
Thursday, October 31, 2013

THE 17th Unive Chess Tournament was held last Oct. 18-26 in Hoogeveen, Netherlands. The Crown Group featured two talented juniors against two experienced players in a double round robin event.

The players are Michael Adams (2753 England), Loek Van Wely (2693 Netherlands), Robin van Kampen (2607 Netherlands) and Wesley So (2706).

Wesley was “So” dominant that he practically won this prestigious tournament at the halfway point with two wins and a draw. He defeated van Wely twice, drew both his games against the top seeded Adams and had a win and a draw against van Kampen.

Wesley had a performance rating of 2877 and gained 13 Elo points.

It will be recalled that he won the World University Championship in Russia last August over an elite field that included Li Chao, Evgeny Aleekseev and Dmitry Andreikin all rated over 2700.

He also figured in a three-way tie in the Reykjavic open with Pavel Eljanov and Amin Baseem early this year.

Last May, Wesley won the Standard and Blitz events in the Calgary International chess classic.

June 2013 was a big surprise as Wesley snared three titles--US Championship, US National Open and US Blitz championship, in a span of four days from June 6 to 9 at the 2013 Las Vegas International Chess Festival.

His next major tournaments will be the Pan-American Team Chess Championship and the A group in Tata Steel.

The 76th Tata Steel (formerly Corus), scheduled on Jan. 10-26 next year in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands is now considered the most prestigious tournament in the calendar as Linares and Melody Amber have been cancelled. To be invited to the A group is like getting an invitation to the White House and it means “you have arrived.”

The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (“World Series of College Chess”) is the foremost intercollegiate team chess championship in the Americas and will take place this Dec. 27–30, at Texas Tech University.

Wesley is a sophomore at Webster University (2013 U.S. College Chess Team National Champion) in Saint Louis, Missouri taking up Business and Finance.

Wesley’s family migrated to Canada two years ago and he is now based there. Has he changed his citizenship? In the Las Vegas tournament he was classified as from Canada.

If you will recall, our top lady player, Fil-Aussie mestisa Arianne Caoli transferred to Australia. She has, since then, played for Australia in the last two Olympiads.

Tournaments. Four Central Squares Strike Open chess tournament has two events--Kiddies and Open.

The Kiddies (14 years and Under) will start tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. at the Robinsons Cybergate Event Center. The format is 7 rounds Swiss with a time control of 15 minutes plus two-second increments.

Prizes are P3,000 plus trophy, P2,000 and P1,000 to the top three placers, while the best female finisher gets P500.

The Open category will follow on Nov. 3 and has the same format and time control as the Kiddies.

Prizes are P4,000 plus trophy, P3,000, P2,000 for the top three placers and P500 for the top lady finisher.

Registration is P150 for the kiddies and P200 for the Open event. For details, contact 09336642958.

On Nov. 7 and 8, the B.C. Hortelano Open will be held at Deep Blue in SM. The format is seven rounds Swiss with a time control of 25 minutes plus 5-second increment. Registration is P150.

Prizes are P3,000, P2,000,P1,000 for the top three placers and those who make the top 20 will also get cash prizes.

For details contact Marvin Ruelan at 09267352951.

World Championship. Watch out for the world championship match between champion Vishy Anand of India and Magnus Carlsen of Norway, which will start Nov. 9 in Chennai, India.

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph