So beats Carlsen for share of 2nd place in Fischer Random chess tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Wesley So showed why he is the reigning world Fischer Random king as he downed current classical champion Magnus Carlsen to grab a share second after six rounds of the 2020 Champions Showdown: Chess9LX (Fischer Random) held online Saturday.

The win by So, born in Cavite but is now based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, over Carlsen in the fifth round catapulted him to a three-way tie on top with Armenia’s Levon Aronian and fellow United States bet GM Leinier Dominguez-Perez with 3.5 points apiece.

But So drew with US teammate and World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana while Aronian toppled Dominguez-Perez in the sixth round that allowed Aronian to seize the solo lead with 4.5 points while So fell to second with Carlsen and American Hikaru Nakamura with four points each.

So’s win over Carlsen, who holds the world titles in standard, rapid and blitz, is nothing new as the former destroyed the latter, 13.5-2.5, to snare the world Fischer Random crown last year.

So’s last three assignments are Nakamura, former world champion Gary Kasparov and Iran’s Alireza Firouzja.