Wesley So looks for big win against Israeli GM

MANILA, Philippines – After getting a much-needed break, Filipino Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So is looking to score a big win in his 9th round match at the 72nd Corus International Chess Championship Group B tournament in the Netherlands.

The 16-year-old whiz kid will battle 32-year-old Israeli GM Emil Sutovsky using the white pieces at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands Tuesday night (Manila Time).

The players, who had a day off on Monday, will compete in the 13-round-robin tournament until January 31.

“Hindi basta-basta si GM Emil pero naniniwala ako na malulusutan yan ni GM Wesley,” said So’s first trainer, National Master (NM) Roberto Suelo, Jr.

According to Suelo, Sutovsky relocated to Israel in 1991. He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, which is famous for being the birthplace of the legendary Garry Kasparov.

In 2005, Sutovsky had a tournament win against then world champion GM Vladmir Kramnik of Russia.

Second place

So is now tied in 2nd place with Chinese GM Ni Hua and Dutch GM Erwin L’Ami  with 5 points each, 1.5 points behind 15-year-old GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands who has 6.5 points.

So made a quick draw over his Chinese opponent on Sunday after 17 moves of Sicilian Rossolimo using the disadvantageous black pieces.

Sutovsky, on the other hand, held a draw over top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany after 49 moves of Four Knights Rubinstein skirmish.

So drew his first 5 games against Naiditsch, L’Ami, GM Varuzhan Akobian of the United States, and Indian GMs Parimarjan Negi and Pentala Harikrishna. He then won 2 straight games against GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania and GM Dimitri Reinderman of the Netherlands.

The Bacoor, Cavite native’s Corus stint is being supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President/Chairman Prospero Pichay, Jr. and Filway Marketing Inc. CEO/President Hector Tagaysay. -

by Marlon Bernardino

Corus Group B Standings after Round 8:
6.5 points - GM Anish Giri (Netherlands)
5 points    - GM Erwin L’Ami (Netherlands), GM Wesley So (Philippines), GM Ni Hua (China)
4.5 points - GM David Howell (England), GM Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany), GM Pentala Harikrishna (India)
4 points    - GM Parimarjan Negi (India)
3.5 points - GM Emil Sutovsky (Israel)
3 points    - GM Tomi Nyback (Finland), WGM Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), GM Liviu- Dieter Nisipeanu (Romania)
2.5 points - GM Dimitri Reinderman (Netherlands)
2 points    - GM Varuzhan Akobian (USA)

as of 01/26/2010 1:04 PM