So, So Good! WESLEY RUNAWAY WINNER AT CAT. 18 UNIVE TOURNAMENT
By Winchell Campos
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 27 Oct 2013
Filipino Super Grandmaster Wesley So completed a wire-to-wire finish and topped the prestigious four-man Category XVIII double-round Unive chess tournament by a mile in Hoogeveen, Netherlands Sunday.
So battled top seed Michael Adams, the former World No. 4, to a fighting 21-move draw by a repetition of moves and romped off with the tournament crown. He finished with a whopping 1.5 points margin ahead of Adams, who tied with local teen sensation GM Robin Van Kempen for second and third places in this strong tournament with an average rating of 2690.
After recently topping the 2013 Universiade in Kazan, Russia, So followed up with one of the strongest finishes by a Filipino in a closed format tournament in years, tallying 4.5 points on three wins and three draws, his performance rating rising to unprecedented levels.
Featuring top ranked and former world No. 4 Adams, once a top contender for the world?s No. 1 rating behind Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand, So proved his worthiness in the world?s biggest chess stages despite being a full-time student at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. He stamped his mastery of GM Loek Van Wely whom he beat twice, the first right on the opening round. After Round Four, So already had 3.5 points and a two-point edge over his closest pursuers, virtually sealing the title with two rounds left.
Unofficially, So?s performance would put him in the super elite Top 30 players in the world. Only a year ago, in the FIDE August 2012 Ratings, So initially entered into the World?s Top 100. Last month, he was in the Top 40.
So, who just turned 20 this month, has an Elo rating of 2706 and could at least rise to 2719 and tie for at least 29th places.
His final round battle with Adams, currently the world?s 13th ranked player, was action-packed. Playing the white side of the Nimzowitch, So opted not to castle to parry the aggressive attacks of Adams who sallied with his queen early. The 42-year-old Adams agreed to halve the point as So was poised to use his slight advantage and start his all-out attack. His other game with Adams on the first round was as explosive, with the Filipino solid with the Ruy Lopez.
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