So resumes World Cup hunt vs Russian GM

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So seeks a follow-up to his impressive 1.5-0.5 victory over by GM Alexander Ipatov of Turkey as he takes on Russian GM Evgeny Tomashevsky in the second round of the FIDE World Chess Cup in Tromso, Norway Wednesday.

So beat Ipatov in their first match then drew their second game, eliminating his rival in one of the head-to-head duels in the event featuring 128 players who made it here from the worldwide elims.

But the Filipino champion, ranked 33rd here, is expected to have his hands full against the 32nd-ranked Tomashevsky, who, however, is coming off a grueling duel with Alejandro Ramirez before reaching the second round.

Tomashevsky needed nine games to dispose of his Puerto Rican rival in their own side of the duel.

The duo drew their first four faceoffs with Tomashevsky winning the fifth but losing the next two before sweeping the last two matches to score a 5-4 win and set up a duel with So.

Tomashevsky hopes to make the most of initiative with the white as he tries to gain an early advantage against the Filipino champion, who, however, is expected to neutralize whatever edge his rival has with his vast repertoire of play with the black.

So became the lone Filipino bet in the event after fellow GMs Mark Paragua and Oliver Barbosa bowed out early, swept by GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and Russian GM Dimitry Jakovenko, a former World Cup quarterfinalist, respectively.

So is out to improve his fourth round finish in this event four years ago when he beat former World Challenger Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and many-time US top board player Gata Kamsky before losing to Russian GM Vladimir Malakhov.