So takes solo lead with win over Italian

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So crushed Italian Daniele Vocaturo’s King’s Indian Defense in 43 moves to seize a one-point lead over another Italian Sabino Brunello, Israeli Emil Sutovsky and Georgian Baadur Jobava in the ACP Golden Chess Classic in Bergamo, Italy Monday night. 

Vocaturo sacrificed a knight to open up So’s kingside but the Filipino ace parried his rival’s attack with sound counters and instead went a knight up after a brief skirmish.

“My opponent made very strong moves in a very short time and I had no chance at all. I was really impressed by the quality of his game,” said Vocaturo.

The win hiked the Webster U standout’s output to 2.5 points, leaving erstwhile co-leader Sutovsky, Brunello and Jobava behind.

So also moved to No. 12 in the world with a live rating of 2754.3, getting past Israeli Boris Gelfand (2754) and Russian Peter Svidler (2751).

So pulled off a marathon 69-move win over Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, former European and Russian champion, while halving the point with Sutovski in the first two rounds.