Published April 28, 2021, 1:30 PM
Wesley So
Two-time United States champion Wesley So had a costly misstep and absorbed a 3-1 defeat in the first of their two-set quarterfinal duel with Armenia-born Levon Aronian in the New In Chess Classic of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Wednesday, April 28.
The 27-year-old So committed a mouse slip that allowed Aronian to turn a drawish position into a victory in the first of the scheduled four games for the day, unnerving the Cavite-born Grandmaster and taking the early 1-0 lead.
The 38-year-old Aronian later admitted he “got lucky.”
So, the Fischer-Random king, will have a chance to bounce back and snatch their second and final match to force a deciding blitz playoff.
Published April 25, 2021, 2:29 PM
Wesley So
Grandmaster Wesley So got off to a rough start after absorbing three defeats in his first five games in the New In Chess Classic of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Sunday, April 25.
So yielded to Iran-born Alireza Firouzja, Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda and England’s Gawain Jones but cushioned the impact of his free fall with wins over rising Indian star Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
The painful start put the Fischer Random king and two-time United States champion in a four-way logjam at 11th place with two points, putting him in danger of missing the playoff round for the first time after five legs of this tour.
Published March 16, 2021, 3:33 PM
Grandmaster Wesley So scored three points in the last five rounds of the preliminaries to secure a place in the knockout quarterfinals of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Magnus Invitational Tuesday, March 16.
So overpowered Sweden’s Nils Grandelius, while drawing with Iran-born Alireza Firouzja, world champion Magnus Carlsen, Spain’s David Anton Guijarro, and Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to end up the third seed with 9.5 points.
Carlsen, the world classical champion, took the top seeding with 10.5 points out of the possible 15 after bumping off Dutch Anish Giri from the top.
Giri, who led after the first 10 rounds, fell to second with 10 points.