Wesley opens bid vs Brazilian champ

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So takes on GM Alexander Hilario Fier of Brazil at the start of the 10th Aeroflot Open chess championship at the Hotel Gamma-Delta in Moscow Tuesday.

So, seeded No. 15 in the 86-player field, is slightly favored over Fier, who is ranked No. 58, although the 17-year-old Filipino champion will handle the black pieces in his 3 p.m. match with the Brazilian champion.

Other featured Group A matches pit top seed GM Gata Kamsky of the US against GM Eduardo Iturriaga of Venezuela, second seed GM Sergei Movsesian against GM Yu Yangyi of China, third seed GM Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia against GM Evgeny Romanov of Russia, fourth seed GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave against GM Dmitry Bocharov of Russia and fifth seed GM Nikita Vitiukov of Russia against GM Tigran Petrosian of Armenia.

While So is the lone Filipino entry in Group A, five other Filipino players are entered in Group B and one in Group C.

IM Oliver Barbosa, fresh from his joint runner-up finish in last week’s Moscow Open, resumes his bid for a GM result as he faces Roman Oganisin of Russia.

GM John Paul Gomez tangles with GM Arseny Alavkin of Russia, GM Darwin Laylo tackles IM Anatoly Kremenietsky of Russia, IM Richard Bitoon battles WIM Viktoria Tarasiva of Russia and IM Oliver Dimakiling meets Antoine Berube of Canada.

Paulo Bersamina, the lone Filipino participant in Group C, opens his bid against David Shahinyan of Armenia.