MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So agreed to a quick 12-move draw with last year's winner Zoltan Almasi of Hungary to formally clinch the Capablanca Memorial 2014 title at the Habana Riviera in La Havana, Cuba Monday.
It was the 20-year-old So's biggest victory of his life as he gained a massive 13.4 rating points from it that it will catapult him from No. 23 with 2731 in the last FIDE ratings list early this month to 2744.4 next month.
So finished unbeaten in 10 games and finished 6.5 points on three wins over Spaniard Francisco Vallejo Pons, Almasi himself and top seed and world No. 10 Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba and seven draws.
Cuban Lazaro Bruzon Batista and Dominguez halved the point in another Grandmaster draw to finish second and third with 5.5 and 5.0 points, respectively.