The RP Whiz Kid

PHILIPPINE GRANDMASTER Wesley Barbasa So got off to a great start in the 43^rd Biel International Chess Festival Young Grandmasters tournament with a 32-move victory over GM David Howell of England on Monday in Biel, Switzerland.

So, at 16 the Philippines’ highest-rated player with an ELO of 2674 and is seeded fourth overall in the category-17, all-GM tournament, prevailed with the black pieces in their Caro-Kann Defense skirmirsh.

The pride of Bacoor, Cavite, will be facing GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in round 2 on Tuesday. Vachier-Lagrave halved the point with GM Fabiano Caruana of Italy in 44 pushes. "Hopefully, I can perform just as well in this 10-player tournament and possibly break the 2700 ELO barrier," said So, who is also best remembered in the chess world for his stunning upset wins over GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and GM Gata Kamsky of the United States in the 2009 World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines president/chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay, Jr. said yesterday "It’s a good start for Wesley So, I hope he can perform well in Biel chess." So, who now holds the distinction as the world’s youngest GM in the Top 60 in the FIDE list, swept all his 21 opponents in a rare simultaneous exhibition in downtown Biel upon the invitation of the Swiss organizers before the start of the actual tournament on Monday.

Other results

Other first-round results, GM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel beat GM Parimarjan Negi of India after 30 moves while the games between GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands versus GM Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia as well as GM Dmitry Andreikin of Russia opposite GM Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam ended in draws, both after 28 pushes. -- Marlon Bernardino