So draws last round game, secures second World Chess Cup berth

Filipino chess ace Grandmaster Wesley So drew his ninth and final game against Chinese GM Zhou Jianchao after 14 moves of the Spanish Opening in the 9^th Asian Continental/Individual Championships  to secure his second appearance in the World Chess Cup (WCC) slated on 2011.

So scored a total of 6.5 points in nine rounds of play, with five wins, three draws and one loss and a performance rating of 2689.

Meanwhile, Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta and Chinese GM  Ni Hua drew their top board encounter in the same opening, also in 14 moves. With the draw, Ni is assured of at least a share of the top spot with seven points, with others still playing as of press time at the tournament venue in Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Olongapo City.

So is already assured of a superior tiebreak points for WCC qualification according to his manager Regge Tee, while Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem (5.5 points) battles it out against Chinese GM Ding Liren (6 points) and GM Li Chao  (5.5 points) struggles against Indian International Master S P Sethuraman (5.5 points). Chinese GM Yu Yangyi also has 5.5 points and still playing Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran (5 points) as of this writing.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines provides the following tie break system:

“After eliminating, the unrated/lowest rated opponent, where the players involved have all played only against rated opponents remaining, find the sum of opponent ratings. The highest total wins. If still tied, eliminate the next lowest rated opponent(s) until a decision is possible. If the tie remains unbroken, decide by lot.

If after eliminating the unrated opponents, the players involved have not all played only against rated opponents remaining, apply the sum of progressive scores. The highest total wins. If still tied, deduct the first round score, and if necessary the second round and so on. If the tie remains unbroken, decide by lot.”

Aside from the five slots available for qualification to the WCC, some $50,000 in cash prizes are available to the top performers of the event.

In 2009, 16-year-old So made a successful debut in the WCC by defeating GMs Gadir Guseinov, Vassily Ivanchuk, and Gata Kamsky before bowing to GM Vladimir Malakhov in the round of 16.

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