Tagaytay City, Philippines – Top-rated Wesley So obliterated the once-feared lines of the Torre Attack and its foremost exponent – Eugene Torre – and claimed his second straight win in a fine show of grandmaster chess in the second round of the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championship Wednesday at the Tagaytay International Convention Center.
The 19-year-old So, the tournament’s top seed with an Elo rating of 2682, made the victory swift and decisive in 38 moves to lead four others with unscathed marks in tournament that will choose the zonal representative in the FIDE World Cup.
“I wanted to go for a win although both sides were in a tight and difficult position,†said So, who took a break from his studies at Webster University in the US to compete in the nine-round Swiss System tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Butch Pichay and hosted by Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol†Tolentino.
Also with two points in the 42-player field were second seed GMs Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam, defending champion Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia, Mark Paragua and Darwin Laylo.
Ngoc Truong Son downed GM Banjo Barcenilla after 28 moves of the King’s Indian, Megaranto routed FM Haridas Pascua after 26 moves of the Queens Indian, Paragua bested Ben Polao after 39 moves of the Sicilian and Laylo subdued NM Nelson Villanueva on the 33rd move of another Sicilian.
In other matches, IM Barlo Nadera split the point with GM Joey Antonio Jr. after 40 moves of another Torre skirmish and IM Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa of Mongolia halved the point with compatriot FM Gombosuren Munkhgal after 41 moves of the Queens Indian.
With 1.5 points are Nadera, Antonio, Gundavaa, Munkhgal, GM Dao Thien Hai, GM Cao Sang and IM Nguyen Doc Hoa of Vietnam and IM Oliver Dimakiling of the Philippines.