So advances in Georgia chess tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Wesley So drew with Colombian Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo in 31 moves of a Gruenfeld Defense Monday night to complete a 1.5-.5 first round win and advance to the second round of the FIDE World Cup 2017 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

 

So gained the early initiative and a slight positional edge but ended up opting for a draw in the second game knowing he beat Castillo with black in 59 moves of a Caro-kann in their first game to gain the early upper hand the day before.

 

In their first duel, So won the exchange in the middlegame and easily turned it into a victory after finding a way to trap Castillo’s knight in the corner.

 

The win arranged So a second-round encounter with German Matthias Bluebaum, who edged Argentinian Sandro Mareco, 1.5-.5.

 

Julio Catalino Sadorra, the country’s highest rated chesser, could muster just a 33-move standoff in 33 moves of another Gruenfeld to fall to Russian Maxim Matlakov, .5-1.5.

 

Sadorra, who lost their first duel, went desperately for a win that would force a two-game tiebreak with lesser time control but wound up splitting the point.

 

Sadorra though will not go home empty-handed as first round losers will receive US$6,000.

 

So for his part is assured of US$10,000 for just making it the second round of this tournament giving US$120,000 to the champion and a spot in the World Candidates Matches, the final round to gain a crack of the world title currently held by Magnus Carlsen.