So outsmarts Gelfand, joins Giri at second

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So pulled off a historic victory against former world challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel to zoom to a share of second place behind top seed and World No. 2 Levon Aronian of Armenia in the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands Friday night.

Employing a seldom-used line against Gelfand’s Sicilian Defense, So, 20, battered the Israeli emigre’s weak queenside, leaving the former scampering for desperate defensive maneuvers that put him under time trouble.

The former Belarus top board player resigned on the 29th as he was left with a shattered queenside and the inevitable loss of a piece.

The brilliant win hiked So’s total to 3.5 points, or just half a point behind Aronian, who kept the lead with four points after a marathon 57-move win over German Arkadij Naiditsch in their Ruy Lopez showdown.

So, coming off a perfect six-of-six performance in powering Webster U to the Pan American Games title last month, was tied with Dutch Anish Giri, who walloped Indian Pentala Harikrishna in 71 moves of their Guioco Piano duel.

So and Aronian, who owns the world’s second highest FIDE rating of 2822 behind Danish Magnus Carlsen’s 2872, were playing in the sixth round at presstime.

So, currently 28th in the world with a 2719 rating, and Aronian last met in the 2012 World Chess Olympiad where their duel ended in a 51-move fighting draw on top board of the Phl-Armenia match.

The upset of Gelfand, ranked eighth in the world with a 2775 rating and the winner of the 1991 Manila Interzonals, ended a string of draws by So against second seed Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, Naiditsch and Dutch teener Anish Giri.

It was the second win for So, who opened this 11-round, 16-day tournament formerly called Corus and then Hoogovens by waylaying Hungarian Richard Rapport.