Unbeaten So lifts RP to solo second in world U-16

IM Wesley So continued to dish out fine form and trampled Jamshid Mustafaev to power the Philippines to a 2.5-1.5 victory over Uzbekistan and into second place halfway through the World Under-16 Chess Olympiad at the Asean Chess Academy at The Plaza in Singapore Tuesday.

It was So’s sixth straight victory as he remained the only player with perfect scores after six rounds of play in the 10-round Swiss system tournament which lured 34 teams from around the world.

The 13-year-old So’s impressive performance likewise lifted the 22nd-ranked Filipinos to solo second place with 16 points behind India, which threatened to pull away with 19 points after a 3.5-0.5 rout of Turkey.

It was actually the Philippines’ second straight victory after dropping a sorry 1.5-2.5 setback to the top-seeded Hungary in the fourth round as the RP bets upset the seventh-ranked Iranians, 2.5-1.5, in the fifth round.

Karl Victor Ochoa defeated Khrushed Mustafaev on board 2 while Franz Robert Grafil held Ulugbek Tillyaev to a draw on board 4 to secure the big victory over the fourth-seeded Uzbeks. Haridas Pascua bowed to Evgeniy Pak on board 3.

It was Pascua’s first setback in the tournament after scoring four wins and a draw while Ochoa has racked up three victories and a draw against two losses. Grafil has chipped in two points for Team RP.

The four RP bets, whose campaign is supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), headed by former Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero “Butch” Pichay and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), are all products of Shell active chess.

But So and company’s mettle will be tested Wednesday as they try to stop the Indians’ surge in the eighth round.

Switzerland blasted Indonesia, 3-1, to tie Australia l and Uzbekistan in third with 15.5 points while Iran bounced back from a loss to RP by thumping Malaysia, 3-1, for solo sixth with 15 points.