So downs Dutch GM, tops Masters

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So ended a long winless spell by ruling the eighth Grand Slam Masters Final 2015, beating Dutch GM Anish Giri in their two-game blitz tiebreaker Sunday night in Bilbao, Spain.

After ending up tied for first with 3.5 points apiece, So pounced on a Giri blunder to eke out a 43-move win in their Slav encounter and then bucked a pawn disadvantage in the second game to escape with a marathon 91-move draw of a Guioco Piano to seal the dramatic win.

It was So’s first triumph since topping the Millionaire’s Chess Open last year while ending a series of embarrassing finishes, including a last-placed stint in the Sinquefield Cup, a round-of-16 effort in the World Cup and yielding his Millionaire’s Chess crown in a span of two months.

But his victory in the Category 22 tournament, where he was the lowest ranked player behind world No. 3 GM Vishwanathan Anand of India (2796), No. 7 Giri (2781.8) and No. 9 Ding Liren of China (2776), put him back to the Top 10 from No 12 in the world with a live rating of 2774.8.