So stuns Ivanchuk, eyes draw to advance

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So outwitted former World Championship contender GM Vassily Ivanchuk with the black pieces, pulling off a 39-move victory in the second round of the World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Festival of Arts in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia Tuesday.

So, riding on the crest of his 4-1 triumph over GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan in the tiebreak stage of their first round matchup, played almost flawlessly against the highly rated Ivanchuk (2739), gaining a pawn on the 13th move before forcing the Ukrainian champion to give up a rook and a bishop for knight and bishop.

The 15-year-old Filipino whiz then simplified the position on the 28th by forcing an exchange of the major pieces. He had two rooks, a knight and five pawns when Ivanchuk, who had a rook, knight, bishop and four pawns, resigned on the 39th.

It was a big win for So, widely considered as the world’s strongest player in the 16-under category, who needs only a draw against Ivanchuk in Game 2 to advance to the Last 32.

But Ivanchuk, who will handle black, is expected to bounce back with a win in a bid to send the match into tiebreak stage.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/chairman Butch Pichay congratulated So for his stunning upset win over Ivanchuk and urged the Filipino champion to “continue to play well and bring honors to the country.”

On Monday, the 59th-ranked So swept all three rapid tiebreak matches against Guseinov to become the only Filipino player to advance to the next round.

GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Darwin Laylo, however, bowed out right in the first round.

Top seed GM Boris Gelfand of Israel was held to a draw by GM Farrukh Amonatov of Tajikistan in their opening match on the top board, the same result obtained by second seed GM Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan against GM Zhou Jianchao of China.

Tomi Nyback of Finland also posted a huge upset of third seed GM Peter Svidler of Russia, while Viktor Laznicka of Czech Republic shocked fourth seed GM Alexander Morozevich, also of Russia, and Konstantin Sakaev of Russia stunned fifth seed Teimor Radjabov of Azerbaijan.