Hot Wesley eyes solo lead vs French GM

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So steps up his title drive in the 77th Tata Steel Masters, taking on French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the ninth round in Wijk an Zee, the Netherlands.

So, who vaulted into the No. 6 in the world with a live rating of 2785.3 following his stunning eighth round win over GM Vassily Ivanchuk Sunday, hopes to sustain his form against Vachier-Lagrave and gain on solo leader GM Magnus Larsen heading to the crucial stretch of the top-level event.

With 5.5 points, So shares second spot with Vachier-Lagrave and Chinese GM Ding Liren with Carlsen, the reigning world champion, on top with six points following a victory over GM Baadur Jobava of Georgia.

Aside from the lead, the Filipino ace playing for the US Chess Federation is also eyeing to breach the 2800 rating.

From No. 10 in the world, So zoomed past American GM Hiraku Nakamura (2776), Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik (2783), Armenian GM Levon Aronian (2781.5) and Dutch GM Anish Giri (2781.4), thanks to his big win over Ivanchuk, the former tournament leader.

After eight rounds, So also emerged the only undefeated player among 14 participants, scoring three wins and five draws including two against the top two rated players in the world – Carlsen and Italian GM Fabiano Caruana.

So, however, remains wary of his chances, saying anything can happen in the last five rounds.

“It’s a long tournament. We just have to be prepared and ready to play each game,” So told chessbase.com.

After Vachier-Lagrave, So will face off with Ding tonight in The Hague before the 13-round Category 20 event takes another break. 

He will take on Croatian GM Ivan Saric Friday and Dutch GMs Anish Giri Saturday and Loek Van Wely Sunday.