Wesley So Proceeds to Round 2 in World Chess Cup 2011

In the tie-break, GM Wesley So (ELO 2658) wins with white in the first tie-break game and agreed to a draw in a winning position with 2 pawns up in the second game to secure a win in the Round 1 of World Chess Cup 2011 against GM Liren Ding of China.

This is definitely a day of celebration for team Philippines. But wait, he's up against the top seed GM Sergey Karjakin (ELO 2788) of Russia in the second round.

Will this be the biggest upset so far in the tournament? We'll find out later today August 31, 2011 at around 5PM Philippine time. We'll surely watch out for it! Go Wesley So!

Wesley So vs. Liren Ding Round 1 World Chess Cup 2011

Now the match stands at 1-1 after both GM Wesley So of the Philippines and GM Liren Ding of China drew both their games at the first round of World Chess Cup 2011.

I don't have yet the time to run the analysis at my own machine, so I'll just be posting the analysis by the GM's at chessdom.com. Replay the Game 2 L. Ding vs. W. So here.

We have to watch out for the tie-breaks tomorrow, including rapid games, and if necessary -- blitz games.

Wesley So Draws with Liren Ding in Game 1 Round of World Chess Cup 2011

GM Wesley So playing white drew his first game against Liren Ding in Round 1 of World Chess Cup 2011.

[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignnone" width="446" caption="Wesley So vs. Liren Ding position after Black's 33rd move"][/caption]

Although the computer analysis particularly from Stockfish and Rybka indicated a slight advantage for white up to the 37th moves from each side, it was slight indeed and Wesley failed to materialize on.

Click here if you want to replay the game between GM Wesley So and GM Liren Ding.

Game 2 is slated for today at around 5PM Philippine time.

World Chess Cup 2011

World Chess Cup 2011 is underway on this weekend. The round 1 games will commence on Sunday, August 28, 2011, 15:00 Khanty Mansiysk, Russia local time -- which converts to Sunday, August 28, 2011, 17:00 Philippine Time. That's 5PM on Sunday.

Two players are participating from the Philippines, GM Wesley So (ELO 2658) and GM Mark Paragua (ELO 2545).

Paragua (108th seed) will be up against the 21st seed, an elite chess player from England, GM Michael Adams (ELO 2715), in the first round. So, on the other hand, was seeded 64th and will be up against the 65th from China, GM Liren Ding (ELO 2654). Obviously, the So vs. Ding battle is expected to be more exciting.

[caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Liren Deng in his serious moment over the board"][/caption]

Check out the official website of the tournament (which by the way is a WordPress site), the list of participants, and the tournament schedule in Khanty Mansiysk time.