Another draw for So at Quebec chess
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 26 Jul 2012
GRANDMASTER (GM) Wesley Barbasa So of the Philippines tried to secure his first win after two consecutive draws but only managed another draw with fellow GM Andrey Sumets of Ukraine in the sixth round of the 2012 Quebec Open Chess Championship at the the beautiful venue College Brebeuf in Montreal, Canada on Thursday.
It was the third straight draw for So, who also obtained the same result against GM Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba and International Master (IM) Bryan Smith of the USA in the fourth and in the fifth round respectively.
Overall, So is now at solo second place with 4.5 points, half point behind with sole leader Bruzon (5.0 points), who brought downed IM Daniel Naroditsky of the USA.
The 17-year-old Bacoor, Cavite whiz kid will face GM Dejan Bojkov of Bulgaria scheduled on Friday.
So earlier beat Fide Master (FM) Louie Jiang of Canada, IM Naroditsky and IM Darwin Yang of the USA in the first three round on Monday.
A whopping top prize $4,000 awaits to the winners in the Invitational tournament which attracted 32 woodpushers.
National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., long-time benefactor of So is very confident that his ward will perform well going to the final canto. "Kalahating puntos lamang ang angat ng GM ng Cuba at alam n'yo naman sa Swiss System na going to the last 3 rounds ay nag end up ng draw. Si Wesley ay fighter yan simula pa ng pagkabata at kumpiyansa ako na maipapanalo niya ang nalalabing tatlong laro," said Pichay, who watches the games live through internet.
So is fresh from winning the the Crown Section of the 2012 Toronto International Chess Championship at the Annex Chess Club in 918 Bathurst St., Toronto, Canada held last July 15 to 20.
He also finish 3rd overall in the 40th Annual World Chess Open Championship which took place at the Sheraton City Center Hotel in Philadelphia held last July 4 to 8.
Meanwhile, after the Montreal chess, So will head to Webster University - SPICE for his full time study, with a brief two week interruption to represent the Philippines in the 2012 World Chess Olympiad on August 27 to September 10 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
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