MANILA, Philippines – Grandmaster Wesley So slammed Canadian FIDE Master Alex Yam in 43 moves of a Caro-kann encounter to remain tied with Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk with 4.5 points after five rounds of the ninth Edmonton Chess Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada yesterday.
The top-seeded So, 20, found a way to open up Yam's kingside by trading his pair of bishops for the latter's knights and after a series of tactical maneuverings, the Webster U standout launched a mating net that succeeded.
No. 2 Ivanchuk dismantled Canadian FM Vladimir Pechenkin's French Defense in 34 moves to remain with So, who is ranked 15th in the world, at the helm halfway through the tournament.
Back home in the Battle of GMs, vintage GM Eugene Torre wielded the rarely-used Trompovsky Opening like a magic wand and carved out a masterful 48-move victory over tournament sensation Women FM Janelle Mae Frayna to regain the solo lead with 17 points.
Half a point behind with 16.5 points was another Olympiad veteran GM John Paul Gomez, who split the point with GM Joey Antonio in 31 moves of a Bogo-Indian battle while Frayna fell off the grid and at joint fifth with International Master Oliver Dimakiling with 13.5 points apiece.
Youthful IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Paulo Bersamina shared third spot with 15 points each with the former halving the point with GM Darwin Laylo in 31 moves of a Slav Defense and the latter trouncing GM Banjo Barcenilla in a marathon 91-move win of a King's Indian Panno Variation.
The top two finishers in this 11-round event will clinch spots in the Phl team seeing action in the World Chess Olympiad set Aug. 1 to 15 in Tromso, Norway.
So has been seed into the team along with GMs Julio Catalino Sadorra and Oliver Barbosa even though he has announced he will switch federations.