So slams Viet foe in 16 moves

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So outclassed IM Nguyen Thanh Anh of Vietnam at the start of the Asian Individual Chess Championships at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic.

So, the country’s winningest player the last three years, pounced on a blunder by his lowly-rated rival to essay the victory in only 16 moves of the Slav Opening.

The 16-year-old Filipino champion, who made a good impression in last year’s World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, emerged with a two-pawn advantage following a well-played middle game, forcing Nguyen to resign a few moves later.

“It’s a good start and I hope to sustain this win,” said So, who needed less than two hours to finish off his rival.

So, ranked fourth behind GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India and GM Ni Hua of China, opted for the Slav, the same opening he used against GM Alexander Malakhov of Russia in the World Cup.

The game was agreed drawn because “he played really well.”

This time, So made the right moves to post the win in the nine-round tournament hosted by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) to determine the five qualifiers to the 2011 World Cup.