INQUIRER Sports

KHANTY-MANSIYSK, RUSSIA? A day after shocking Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the second round, Filipino GM Wesley So prepared long and hard for a crucial showdown against former child prodigy GM Gata Kamsky of the United States in the third round of the 2009 World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Centre of Arts here.

So, at 16 already the world?s strongest junior player with an ELO of 2640, will play two games against the 27th-seeded Kamsky (ELO 2695)?one with the white pieces and one with the black pieces?starting Friday.

If the match is still tied after two games, the two players will battle it out in the rapid and blitz tiebreak matches on Sunday.

So and Kamsky earned the right to meet each other in the third round after winning their first two assignments.

Aside from Ivanchuk, So also defeated GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, 4-1, in the first round. The Filipino split the first two matches against Guseinov before sweeping the three rapid tiebreak matches to advance.

Kamsky, the Rusian-born American GM, ousted Filipino GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., 1.5-.5, in the first round and GM Zhou Weiqi of China, 1.5-.5.

Another upset win by So over Kamsky will send the fourth-year high school student of St. Francis of Assisi College to the 16-player fourth round against the winner of the match between No. 11 seed GM Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine and No. 22 GM Vladimir Malakhov of Russia.

Other possible opponents for So include former world championship campaigners GMs Peter Svidler of Russia, Alexei Shirov of Spain, Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia and Arkadj Naiditsch of Germany.

So?s compatriots, Antonio and GM Darwin Laylo, have also decided to stay behind here to provide assistance to the young Filipino campaigner from Bacoor, Cavite.

Even the foreign media hailed So?s newest achievement in chess, calling his upset win over Ivanchuk.

?Was the victory of this young fellow from the Philippines an accident or we will witness the birth of a new Carlsen? We will have an answer in three days,? proclaimed the official website of the World Chess Cup.