Biel tilt: So resumes bid vs Viet rival

Standings after six rounds: 4.0 points—F. Caruana (Italy); 3.5—W. So (RP), M. Vachier-Lagrave (France), E. Tomashevsky (Russia), D. Andreikin (Russia), M.Rodshtein (Israel); 3.0—N.N. Truong Son (Vietnam); 2.5—A. Giri (Netherlands); 1.5—P. Negi (India), D. Howell (England)

BIEL, SWITZERLAND—Invigorated by a one-day respite, Filipino sensation Wesley So resumes his campaign in the 2010 Biel Young Grandmasters chess championship when he takes on Vietnamese hope Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in the pivotal seventh round Monday night in Manila.

The fourth-seeded So, currently tied for second to sixth places with 3.5 points on two wins, three draws and only one loss, will play white against the eighth-ranked Truong Son.

The 16-year-old Filipino champion, who yielded the lead after losing his fifth-round showdown against Fabiano Caruana of Italy, needs a win against Truong Son to boost his chances for the title in the all-GM, nine-round tournament.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay and secretary general Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino have urged So to continue to play well and keep the Filipino pride alive in the international stage.

So far, So has beaten David Howell of England in the first round and Maxim Rodshtein of Israel in the third round.

He drew his matches against top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, in the second round, Parimarjan Negi of India in the fourth round and Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia in the sixth round.

So’s lone setback came at the hands of Caruana, the 17-year-old Italian-American pacesetter with 4.0 points.

Other matches pit Caruana against Anish Giri of the Netherlands, Vachier-Lagrave against Tomashevsky, Rodshtein against Howell and Negi against Dmitry Andreikin of Russia.

After Truong Son, So’s remaining two opponents are Giri and Andreikin, respectively.