MANILA—The Philippines’ top teenage chess player, Grandmaster Wesley So (2655), took off to a roaring start in the Indonesia Open Chess Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The 18-year-old genius from Bacoor, Cavite defeated International Master (IM) Muhammad Ivan Situru (ELO 2314) of Indonesia using the white pieces.
National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero Pichay Jr. said, “It’s a good start for Wesley So, I hope he can perform well in Indonesia.”
With the win, the world’s no. 90 and the event’s fourth seed So shares first to 33th places with compatriots untitled Emmanuel Emperado, GMs Oliver Barbosa, John Paul Gomez, Richard Bitoon and IM Oliver Dimakiling.
The 50th seed Emmanuel (2294), a son of former Olympian and National Master Mila Emperado, upset 10th seed GM Alexander Fier (2583) of Brazil with the black pieces.
The 14th seed Barbosa (2538) edged countryman FM Mari Joseph Turqueza (2274) of Quezon City; Gomez (2514) trounced Tampubolon Sudung (2252); Bitoon (2504), who is from Cebu, defeated IM Andi Supardi Suhendra (2242) of Indonesia; and Dimakiling (2414) beat Hasian Panggabean (2199) of Indonesia.
In other matches, top seed GM Wang Yue (2716) of China settled to a draw with IM Tirto (2322) of Indonesia; second seed GM Alexey Dreev (2711) of Russia routed FM Agusta Laksana (2316) of Indonesia; and third seed GM Li Chao (2710) of China toppled FM Mahmud Syarif (2315) of Indonesia.
This is one of the strongest chess tournaments ever held in Indonesia and attracted 80 players with 24 GMs, 5 WGM, 12 IMs, 2 WIM, 15 FM, and 2 WFM. (PR)
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