WC round 2: So versus Balogh

SUPER Grandmaster Wesley So continues his quest for World Cup 2015 glory against Hungarian GM Csaba Balogh Monday night in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Philippine-born So, now representing the United States, swept 15-year-old Iranian International Master Parham Maghsoodloo,
2-0, in the first round to cruise to the Final 64 and sustain his bid to regain Top 10 world ranking.

Balogh, who bested local bet Eltaj Safarli in the tiebreaker of their first round tussle, is no pushover as he held So to draws in their previous two encounters.

Following a poor performance in the recent Sinquefield Cup, So dropped from ninth to 12th in the world with an Elo rating of 2761.4—still superior over Balogh’s 2665, though.

As a 15-year-old, So bared his potential when he reached the last 16 of the World Cup 2009 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Roy Luarca