76th Tata Steel Chess: Wesley So stays at second place after a win over Gelfand; Faces top-seed Aronian today
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 18 Jan 2014
Round 5 Standings: Aronian 4.0pts, Giri, So 3.5pts, Dominguez, Karjakin, Caruana 3.0pts, Harikrishna, Nakamura 2.5pts, Van Wely, Rapport 1.5pts, Naiditsch, Gelfand 1pt.
Round 6 Pairings 12:30pm Sat 18th 2014: Giri-Gelfand, Aronian-So, Karjakin-Naiditsch, Dominguez-Nakamura, Van Wely-Rapport and Harikrishna-Caruana.
Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So (ELO 2719) defeated Israeli GM Boris Gelfand (2777) to share second place in the fifth round of the super-tough Category A of the 76th Tata Steel Tournament Masters in Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam on Friday.
So hiked his total to 3.5 points, the same output of local bet GM Anish Giri (2737), who brought down GM Pentala Harikrishna of India (2708) after 71 moves of Giuoco Piano Opening. So prevailed using the white pieces after 29 moves of Sicilian Rossolimo.
"I think mas maganda pawn to c4 si Gelfand sa 21st moves kaysa sa rook a8 to b8 para may counter play," said International Master Oliver Dimakiling in an exclusive interview who watched the games live through ChessBomb website along with grandmasters Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo, GM candidate Ronald Dableo, FM David Elorta, US master Albert Rivera and candidate masters Peter and Samson Lim.
"Y'ung rook a8 to b8 parang naging passive si Gelfand," added Dimakiling, who topped a blitz chess tournament hosted by GM Laylo on Friday.
So will meet tournament leader and top seed GM Levon Aronian of Armenia (2803) on Saturday.
Aronian, boyfriend of Fil-Australian WIM Arianne Bo Caoili, beat GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany (2737) after 57 moves of Ruy Lopez Berlin to raised his total 4.0 points.
So and Aronian first met during the last World Chess Olympiad and their game ended up in a fighting draw.
"I won't say it's my achievement, more the mistakes of my opponent but it certainly felt like a great example of how a leading player can take an unpromising position and apply really serious pressure using the clock and accurate moves. A really impressive win," said Aronian to the official website of Tata Steel.
In other results, GM Fabiano Caruana of Italy (2782) toppled GM Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands (2678) after 73 moves of Sicilian Sveshnikov, GM Leinier Dominguez of Cuba (2754) walloped GM Richard Rapport (ELO 2691) of Hungrary after 30 moves of English Symmetrical and GM Hikaru Nakamura of the USA (2786) split the point with GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia (2756) after 24 moves of Nimzo Indian Defense. -Marlon Bernardino-
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Sanman Boxing present Yeerken vs. Carcedo WBA Asia South Title Clash in General Santos City on Feb 9
Fri, 09 Jan 2026Hardstone adds 2 more title fights on January 26
By Lito delos Reyes, Fri, 09 Jan 2026Panamerican Boxing Confederation Partners with Xempower for Digital and AI-Driven Transformation
Fri, 09 Jan 2026IGMOB TALENT GROUP Launches www.IGMOBTalent.com to Represent Fighters, Entertainers, and Rising Talent Across Sports & Media
Fri, 09 Jan 2026SEAG Davao-based athletes eye International stints
By Lito delos Reyes, Fri, 09 Jan 2026Canoy banking on his ring experience against Kuse
By Lito delos Reyes, Thu, 08 Jan 2026Undefeated Kansas Middleweight Prospect Marco “El Tiburon” Romero finished 2025 with 7th triumphs, all by knockout, & 11-0 record
Thu, 08 Jan 2026Kinetix Sports aims for bigger events in 2026
By Lito delos Reyes, Thu, 08 Jan 20262026 Santa Maria Town Fiesta Chess Challenge on January 26
By Marlon Bernardino, Thu, 08 Jan 2026World Ranked Heavyweight Dainier Pero Headlines on Saturday, January 17th at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia
Wed, 07 Jan 2026Jahyae Brown to Battle Arnold Gonzalez in Exciting Co-Feature on Thursday, January 15th at The War Memorial in Trenton, New Jersey
Wed, 07 Jan 2026Hendri Cedeno Seeks Monumental Victory Against Alfredo Santiago for NABO Title January 10 at Barclays Center
Tue, 06 Jan 2026Kingsley Ibeh learned from his Loss 5 years ago to Jared Anderson
Tue, 06 Jan 2026Unified World Cruiserweight Champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez returning to Corpus Christi…as a promoter!
Tue, 06 Jan 2026Ocum to fight Ballesteros on January 26
By Lito delos Reyes, Mon, 05 Jan 2026