Philippine Sports News and Updates

WIJK AAN ZEE, Netherlands – GM Wesley So goes for an all-important win against fifth seed GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel as he resumes his title bid in the 72nd Corus chess tournament at the De Moriaan Community Center in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands Tuesday.

So hopes to make the most of the white against Sutovsky, the last of five players ranked higher than the sixth-seed Filipino champion in the 13-round Group B, Category 16 tournament.

After Sutovsky, So, toting a 2656 rating, will be taking on four players rated lower than him in the last four rounds, including GM Tomi Nyback of Finland, GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands, GM David Howell of England and lone female participant IM Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia.

So is in joint second with Ni Ha of China and Erwin I’ Ami of the Netherlands with 5 points, 1.5 points behind solo leader Giri.

MANILA -- Filipino chess prodigy Wesley So scored another shocking upset, this time against “chess heavyweight” and defending champion Gata Kamsky of the US, in the ongoing 2009 World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Festival of Arts in Russia.

The 16-year-old Pinoy grandmaster defeated Kamsky, a super GM with an ELO rating of 2695, in Game 1 of the Round 3 match up using the French defense.

So (ELO 2640) only needs to pull off a draw against Kamsky in Game 2 to advance to the next round of the biennial event.

Kamsky, a Soviet-born American chess player, reportedly offered So to split the point after 19 moves but the Filipino politely declined.

Kamsky is the defending champion, having won the 2007 World Chess Cup by defeating Spain’s Alexei Shirov in the 7th and final round. He is currently rated World’s No. 41 based on FIDE’s rankings.

So, rated No. 7 Junior player in the world, earlier toppled chess giant Vassily Ivanchuk after outplaying the Ukrainian GM, 1.5-05, in Round 3.

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So takes on GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan in the first round of the World Chess Cup which begins Nov. 20 at the Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

So, the country’s highest-rated player with a 2640 rating, is seeded 59th overall in the 128-player tournament which features the world’s top players. His opponent, Guseinov, is seeded 70th.

Guseinov is one of 46 players who qualified through the European Championships in 2008 and 2009.

The two other Filipino campaigners in the event are GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Darwin Laylo, who will be up against a pair of veteran and higher-rated opponents.

Antonio, who clinched a World Cup berth with a strong showing in the Asian Individual Chess Championship in Subic early this year, will play No. 27 seed GM Gata Kamsky of the United States.