So bows to Swede, drops to third

MANILA, Philippines - World Youth bronze medalist GM Nils Grandelius stunned Wesley So in the fourth round, dropping the Filipino GM to joint third in the Sigeman and Co. Chess Championship in Malmo, Sweden Sunday.

So struggled in the face of Grandelius’ all-out attack, losing by checkmate in 31 moves of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. The end came when the Swede bet’s queen caught So’s unprotected king on d1 for a checkmate.

Most experts observed the 17-year-old So allowed his rival to dictate the tempo while struggling with an uncastled king, giving Grandelius the chance to attack So’s fort with black’s active queen, bishop and knight in a middlegame skirmish.

“The king in the center is always very difficult to defend and So’s two rooks remain unconnected when Grandelius launched his attack,” said chess expert Glen Bordonada in his analysis with the Barangay Wesley.

“Wesley has a tendency to under-estimate a lower-rated opponent. He did not play as well as he did against (Alexei) Shirov. But it’s another good lesson for him,” said another expert.

The loss dropped So in a tie for third with the top seeded Shirov with only one round left in the six-player, round-robin tournament.

GM Anish Giri drew with GM Johnny Hector of Sweden, while GM Hans Tikkanen also halved the point with Shirov in other matches.

So plays Hector in the final round.  

Over in Indonesia, Samathan Glo Revita beat Fortuna Dewi of Indonesia to lead the charge of the Filipinas in the ASEAN age-group chess championships which got under way yesterday in Tarakan.

Revita, the newly crowned Asian Youth silver medalist, outplayed Dewi to gain the early lead in the girls’ 12 years old and under class with compatriot Marie Antoinette San Diego, who demolished Novitasan Yunita of Indonesia.

Daryl Unix Samantila also hurdled his opening-day assignment in the boys’ 12 and under category, beating M. Ichsan of Indonesia.

Haince Patrick de Leon and Tristan Ibaoc battled to a draw in an all-Filipino encounter.

In the boys’ 20 under, Richelieu Salcedo drew with Lennon Hart Salgados, so did Jedara Docena and Mary Palero, in the girls’ 20-under side.