INQUIRER Sports

Young Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So (2640) ousted Super GM Vassily Ivanchuk (2739) of Ukraine, 1.5-0.5, on Wednesday, by holding him to a draw in their second match in the ongoing World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Festival of Arts in Russia.

The 46-move draw of a Queens Pawn Game, propelled the 15-year old chess whiz to the third round of the prestigious event. In their first game on Tuesday, So defeated his older and higher-rated rival for a, 1.0-0.0 advantage.

GM So, whose stint is supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero ?Butch? Pichay Jr. and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Harry Angping, will face Super GM Gata Kamsky (2695) of the United States in round 3.

Kamsky, the defending World Chess Cup champion, who eliminated Filipino GM Rogelio ?Joey? Antonio Jr. (2574) in the first round, subdued China's GM Zhou Weiqi (2603) in the second round.

?Anuman ang mangyari kay Wesley (So) sa third round kontra kay Kamsky (Gata) ay malaking karangalan na ang hatid niya sa bayan. Hindi biro-biro na talunin ng isang 15 year-old and isang Ivanchuk,? said Pichay.

Meanwhile, GM Susan Polgar of the US also praised So?s feat of beating Ivanchuk.

?The more games the talented Wesley plays against world class opponents, the better and more confident he gets. After losing to Guisenov in the second game of his first round match, he reeled off 3 straight wins in the rapid playoff to advance to the second round,? said Polgar, the highest-rated women chess player in history.