FILIPINO grandmaster Wesley So beat Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 13th and final round to win the 2017 Tata Steel Masters Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands and climb to second in the world rankings.
“It means a lot. It’s a relief that I won my last game. That’s because Magnus (Carlsen) and Wei (Yi) have a position (to win). And I don’t have to do tiebreaks,” said the 23-year-old So in an online interview with chessbase.com
So turned back Nepomniachtchi in 28 moves of a Trompowsky Attack to end his 13-round campaign with five wins, eight draws and a total of eight points.
He finished a full point ahead of world no. 1 Carlsen, who took solo second with eight points after drawing with Sergey Karjakin in 53 moves of a King’s Pawn Game.
Nepomniachtchi was a pawn down when So took control of the queenside to protect six black pawns.
“Other players may have gone the safe route and this is a long tournament–13 rounds. They may want to finish the tournament quickly. But he (Nepomniachtchi) is a great fighter,” added So.
So extended his unbeaten streak to 56, winning the Sinquefield Cup, the London Chess Classic and taking the overall crown in the Grand Chess Tour last year.
Wei, who was in contention for a playoff for the crown had So lost, went down in a 70-move defeat to Radoslaw Wojtaszek in their King’s Pawn Game. He finished tied for third to fifth places at seven points with Baskaran Adhiban and Levi Aronian.
Because of his title conquest, So has unofficially dislodged Fabiano Caruana for the world no. 2 ranking with an ELO rating of 2822. His current official ELO rating is 2808. On other hand, Carlsen is still at no. 1 spot.
“I set up my goals to win this tournament. Although I can’t expect it with Magnus around. But winning this tournament with the world champion around is a huge thing,” said So.