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Source: GMA News

-- GM Wesley So of the Philippines faces another major challenge when he meets fifth seed GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel in the pivotal ninth round of the 72nd Corus chess tournament at the De Moriaan Community Centre Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

The sixth-seeded So plays white against Sutovsky, the last of five players with a higher rating than him in this 13-round Group B tournament being held at the wind-swept Dutch resort town.

After Sutovsky, So (ELO 2656) will battle four more players with lower ratings in the next five days.

So’s remaining opponents are seventh seed GM Tomi Nyback of Finland in the 10th round; GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands in the 11th; GM David Howell of England in the 12th; and lone female participant IM Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia in the final round.

Giri, however, could provide another stern test.

The Nepal-born Dutch champion, who will turn 16 on Thursday, enjoys a 1.5 point lead over So and two other players, GM Ni Hua of China and Erwin l’ Ami of the Netherlands.

Giri has 6.5 points on five wins and three draws against So’s five points on two wins and six draws.

Experts said So must gain headway in the next two rounds against Sutovsky and Nyback in time for his keenly-awaited 11th-round match against Giri on Friday (Saturday in Manila).

“He (So) must be able to narrow Giri’s lead to at least one point ahead of their 11th-round showdown this Friday," said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) executive/events director Willie Abalos.

“It will be interesting to see how Giri will play black against Wesley with only a point separating them," added Abalos.

Before the ninth-round match against Sutovsky, So drew his first five matches against top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany; GM Erwin l’Ami of the Netherlands; Varuzhan Akobian of the United States; GM Parimarjan Negi of India; and GM Pentala Harikrishna.

The fourth-year high school student of St. Francis College-Cavite then swept his next two matches against second seed GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania in the sixth round and No. 13 seed GM Dimitri Reinderman of Netherlands in the seventh.

He again drew with GM Ni Hua of China in the eighth round Sunday (Monday in Manila) before the one-day break.

Last year, So topped Group C of the Corus tourney with a 13-round total of 9.5 points on seven wins, five draws and only one loss. He finished a full point ahead of Giri and GM Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden.

This year, both So and Giri were invited to play in Group B.