MANILA, Philippines — Wesley So sprang back to life with a scintillating victory over fast-rising Norwegian Aryan Tari in their Armageddon duel at the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger yesterday.
After missing an outright win in their classical game that ended in a marathon 81-move draw, So blew away Tari with a 43-move win highlighted by a magnificent queen sacrifice.
The win sent the world Fischer-Random king and two-time United States titlist back in the title race as he hiked his total to 10 points after six rounds, which was good for solo third.
World champion Magnus Carlsen destroyed Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in standard to jump back to the solo lead with 12.5 points while sending former leader Vishwanathan Anand of India, an Armageddon winner over the Netherland’s Anish Giri, down to second with 11.5 points.
It appeared So was on his way to extracting the full three points as he was a pawn and position up against Tari in standard.
So, however, imploded and threw away his winning chances leading to the deciding playoff game.