i TV Pinoy

Source: Marlon Bernardino, ABS-CBN News

-- Filipino Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So settled a truce with GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran at the start of Aeroflot Open 2010 Chess Tournament in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday.

The chess whiz kid used the disadvantageous black pieces in the match that ended in a fighting draw after 25 moves of a Queen's gambit.

So entered in the A1 group, which brackets chess players with 2549 FIDE rating. The 16-year-old currently has an ELO rating of 2646 points.


The Cavite native will play the white pieces against 27 year-old GM Dmitry Bocharov (ELO 2594) of Russia in the 2nd round on Wednesday.

GM Darwin Laylo, on the other hand, lost in his first match as he yielded to Azerbaijan GM Rauf Mamedov after 26 moves of Modern defense.

He will face another Azerbaijan, GM Eltaj Safarli, in the weeklong event which offers 21,000 euros to the winners.

The Filipino duo’s Russia trip is backed by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Jr.

“Confident ako na makakapasok sa Top 10 sa Aeroflot si Wesley,” Pichay said in an interview.

So is coming off a 5th place finish in the recently-concluded Corus B chess tournament in the Netherlands.