Wesley So looks for first Corus win

Posted by 365Chess.com on January 21, 2010 in Chess news

A well rested Filipino GM Wesley Barbasa So is looking for his first win in the 72nd Corus international chess championship group B as he battles Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna in the 5th round at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands.

The 16-year-old So, 2009 Corus C group champion, drew his first four round assignment against top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, GM Erwin l’Ami of the Netherlands, GM Varuzhan Akobian of the United States and GM Parimarjan Negi of India.

So gets his much needed rest on Wednesday before tackling Harikrishna.

Over-all, So tallied a total of 2 points and joins the 6th placers in the company of Negi, Naiditsch, former World Championships finalist Romanian GM Liviu- Dieter Nisipeanu and Finnish GM Tomi Nyback.

“Crucial game ni Wesley (So) sa fifth round, hope manalo siya,” said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., who bankrolled the local and international chess campaign of So together with Filway Marketing Inc. CEO Hector “Chito” Tagaysay.

Dutch GM Anish Giri and Chinese GM Ni Hua, both leading in the 13 round-robin tournament with 3 points will each try to maintain their lead. Giri will go up against Israeli GM Emil Sutovsky while Ni will face England’s GM David Howell.

Individual Standings after round 4, Group B:

3 points— GM Anish Giri (Netherlands), GM Ni Hua (China)
2.5 points— GM Erwin L’Ami (Netherlands), GM David Howell (England),GM Pentala Harikrishna (India),
2 points— GM Wesley So (Philippines), GM Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany), GM Liviu- Dieter Nisipeanu (Romania), GM Tomi Nyback (Finland), GM Parimarjan Negi (India),
1.5 points— GM Emil Sutovsky (Israel), WGM Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine)
1 point— GM Varuzhan Akobian (USA),
0.5 point—GM Dimitri Reinderman (Netherlands)