GIRI BEATS SO IN KEY CORUS B MATCHUP
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 30 Jan 2010
Corus B Tournament leader leader Anish Giri of Holland beat Wesley So of the Philippines in a crucial 11th round clash Friday night (Manila Time) that could potentially decide the winner of the tournament.
GM So opened with 1.e4 and GM Giri responded with the Petroff defense (1?.e5 2. Nf3 Nf6).
The 15 year old Giri is currently the youngest active grandmaster in the world and has usually uses the Sicilian against e4. Giri launched an attack and sacrificed his knight then his bishop to open up lines towards So?s king. So defended well but seemed to have inaccuracies. Giri was also tenacious.
The game ended in 36 moves with Giri on the verge of a checkmate. This was So?s first loss in the tournament after three wins and seven draws.
Giri was born to a Nepalese father and Russian mother. He became a chess grandmaster when he was 14 years and seven months old. He has been residing in Holland since 2008.
Going into the eleventh round of the tournament, So had 6 ? points and shared second place together with Ni Hua of China and Erwin L'Ami of Holland. They trailed Giri by a half a point.
In 2007, the 16 year old So became the youngest Filipino grandmaster at the age of 14 years and 1 month. He is also the youngest Filipino International Master at the age of 12 years and 10 months. Last year, he won the Corus chess tournament for the Grandmaster C group.
GM So still has a chance to win with two remaining games against David Howell on Saturday and his final game this Sunday will be against female GM Anna Muzychuk, who dealt Giri his only loss so far last Tuesday.
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