WESLEY SO SECURES BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN AEROFLOT CHESS TOURNEY

FILIPINO GM Wesley Barbasa So (ELO 2656) scored back-to-back wins after beating Armenian GM Hrant Melkumyam  (2583) in the ongoing Aeroflot Open 2010 Chess Tournament at the hotel “Gamma-Delta” belonging to the Tourist Complex “Ismailovo” in Moscow, Russia.

So triumphed using the disadvantageous black pieces after 39 moves of Slav defense in Saturday’s 5th round.

The 16-year-old So improved to a total of 3.5 points to share 4th to 11th placers with Sunday’s 6th round opponent another Armenian GM Arman Pashikian (2647), who brought downed French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2730) after 45 moves of Gruenfeld defense using the advantageous white pieces.

Last Friday, So toppled Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2591) in the 4th round after a heart-breaking loss to Vietnamese GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (ELO 2616) in the third round Thursday.

So drew his first game against Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami won against Russian GM Dmitry Bocharov in the second round.

According to National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., the Armenian GM commited a blunder in the 22nd move pushing his Bishop to e1 allowing the young Filipino chess kid to sacrfice his Rook to Bishop in e1 square and gained a superior position.

” Mali y’ung Bishop to e1 na move ng Russian GM kay Wesley sa 22nd move kaya nagkaroon ng counter play si Wesley, sacrifice y’ung Rook n’ya sa Bishop with strong attack.” said Pichay, who has already produced five GMs in three years in office (NCFP president) that includes Wesley So, Darwin Laylo, Jayson Gonzales, John Paul Gomez and Joseph Sanchez.

Boris Grachev (2653) nipped compatriot Russian GM Sanan Sjugirov (2610) to create a three-way tie for first places with 4 points that includes Truongson, the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games five-gold medal winner, who halved the point with countryman GM Le Quang Liem.

Another Filipino GM Darwin Laylo (2556) was not so fortunate and lost to Spanish GM Joseph Manuel Lopez Martinez ( 2593) after 65 moves of English Opening using the white pieces. Laylo, who hails from San Roque in Marikina City remains at 0.5 point. His sixth round assignment against Ukrainian GM Yuriy Ajrapetjan (2525).

The two Pinoy grandmasters are competing in the in the A1 group (for chessplayers with a FIDE rating higher than 2549) which is backed up by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. and winner of this prestigious nine round Swiss-system FIDE (World Chess Federation) sanctioned tournament gets champion’s purse 21,000 euros.

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO