So triumphs anew, moves to second

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So chalked up his second straight win, beating GM Dimitri Reinderman of the Netherlands to gain a share of second in the seventh round of the 72nd Corus chess tournament at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands Saturday.

So kept the momentum of his sixth round victory over former European champion GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania, steering the game out of the Dutch Defense bookline into a Stonewall Variation before outwitting his lower-rated Dutch rival with two bishops and a passed pawn in the endgame.

He took the full point after 36 moves, hiking his total 4.5 points in a tie with GM David Howell of England, GM Erwin l’Ami of the Netherlands and GM Ni Hua of China.

That was a full point behind GM Anish Giri, also of the Netherlands, who halved the point with l’Ami.

Chessdom.com analyst GM Bong Villamayor said So played exceptionally well considering “he encountered the Dutch Defense only once since 2004 – in his second match with GM Gata Kamsky during the 2009 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk which ended in a draw.”

Added Villamayor: “After Wesley’s 29. Rc1, he already had clear advantage due to passed pawn and two bishops and needed only to consolidate his forces.”

Howell scored the only other win in the day, trouncing GM Tomi Nyback of Finland.

Ni drew his match with top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany.

So, meantime, tries to make it three in row as he handles the black against Ni in the eighth round Sunday.

Giri, the 15-year-old Dutch champion, battles Howell in another keenly awaited duel on the top board.