So enters 3rd round of Chess Cup elims

MANILA, Philippines — Second seed Wesley So bested German Matthias Bluebaum in the first two-game playoffs to complete a 3-1 victory and advance to the third round of the 2017 FIDE World Chess Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia Friday night.

Needing an extra pair of games after drawing their two-game second round showdown, So made sure there were no draws this time as he trounced Bluebaum in 49 moves of a Gruenfeld duel with the black pieces and then dismantled his foe’s French Defense in just 21 moves to advance to the next round.

So next faces Spaniard Francisco Vallejo Pons, who turned back Russian Evgeny Tomashevsky, 1.5-.5.

In the first playoff game, So snatched the open d-file when Bluebaum appeared to have seized control and then quickly pounced on the latter’s blunder to gain a pawn that the former easily translated into victory.

Needing just a draw to seal the win, So went for an Exchange Variation of the French where he outmaneuvered an overly aggressive Bluebaum, who blundered away a knight to allow the Cavite-born chesser to snare the quick win.

Tournament format allows each player two games each using standard time control.