So nears crown as Carlsen, Wei, Aronian do final push

Wesley So. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Pacesetter Wesley So and closest pursuer Wei Yi split the point Saturday, allowing defending champion Magnus Carlsen and former world No. 2 Levon Aronian to join them in the hunt for the 79th Tata Steel Masters Chess crown in the Netherlands.

Carlsen downed erstwhile leader Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine while Aronian trounced local bet Loek Van Wely in the 12th round to catch up with Wei at 7.5 points, just half point off So’s 8.0.

The 13th and final round of the all-Grandmaster event is set Sunday with So tackling Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen battling Russian Sergey Karjakin and Wei tangling with Radoslaw Wojtaszek.

Another win by So over Nepomniachtchi, whom he’d beaten thrice in a row, will hand the Fil-Am the game’s first major title this year.

A draw, on the other hand, will give Carlsen, Aronian and Wei, the youngest player to surpass the Elo 2700 rating at 17, the chance to tie So at the helm and necessitate a tie-breaker if they prevail.

Meanwhile, So announced on his Facebook account that  Ukrainian GM Vladimir Tukmatov, 70, is now his personal coach. —Roy Luarca