WIJK AAN ZEE, Netherlands – Grandmaster Wesly So faces top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany in the first round of the 2010 Corus International Chess Championship at the De Moriaan Community Center Saturday.
The Latvian-born Naiditsch is the top seed with an ELO of 2689.
So, who topped Group C last year with a remarkable score of 9.5 points on seven wins, five draws and only one loss, is making his first appearance in the much-stronger, category-16 Group B where the average rating is ELO 2627.
“It’s a new challenge for me, but I will do my best for our country,” said the 16-year-old So, who is seeded sixth in the 14-player field with an ELO of 2656. “Sana maging maganda uli ang performance ko dito sa Wijk aan Zee, gaya last year.”
Although seeded only sixth, So is getting a lot of attention in this seaside resort town following his smashing showing in the recent World Chess Cup where he reached as far as the fourth round with victories over former world championship candidates GMs Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Gata Kamsky of the United States.
After Naiditsch, So’s second-round opponent will be GM Erwin l’Ami of the Netherlands on Sunday.
His other opponents are No. 8 seed GM Varuzhan Akobian of the United States (third round), No. 9 GM Parimarjan Negi of India (fourth round), third seed GM Pentala Harikrishna of India (fifth round), second seed GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania (sixth round), No. 13 GM Dmitri Reinderman of Netherlands (seventh round), fourth seed Ni Hua of China (eighth round), fifth seed GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel (ninth round), No. 7 GM Tomi Nyback of Finland, (10th round), No. 12 Anush Giri of Netherlands (11th round), No. 11 GM David Howell of England (12th round) and No. 13 IM Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia (13th round).
Last year, So finished with 13.5 points..
So is expected to advance to Group A if he wins. win the tournament again this year, he is expected to be invited to play in Group A next year.