Wesley So topples Gawain Jones in round 11
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 27 Jan 2018
Defending champion Grandmaster (GM) Wesley Barbasa So tallied 6.5 points after eleven rounds to jump into a three-way tie for fifth in the 2018 Tata Steel chess tournament being held in Hiversum, the Netherlands on Friday.
The 24-year old Filipino chess champion scored crucial win against GM Gawain Jones of England after 62 moves of a Benoni Defense in the eleventh round.
So far, the Bacoor, Cavite native So has three wins, one loss and seven draws in the 13 round tournament which offers euros 10,000 to the champion and euros 6,500 to the runner-up.
"Napakaganda ng nilaro ni GM Wesley So kay GM Gawain Jones at hope maipagpatuloy niya ang panalo sa mga susunod pang laro," said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Vice President Atty. Cliburn Anthony A. Orbe who watched the game live through internet.
Joining him in the fifth spot are fellow 6.5-pointers GM Vladimir Kramnik and GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia.
Three-time Tata Steel titlist World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan agreed to a 38 moves draw of their Nimzo-Indian defense encounter to share the lead with 7.5 points each.
GM Viswanathan Anand of India trounced GM Hou Yifan of China after 33 moves of English Opening to raise his total to 7.0 points, the same output of GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands.
Giri halved the point with GM Fabiano Caruana of the United States after 44 moves of London System Opening.
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