Wesley virtual Corus champ

GM Wesley So flashed fine form and racked up two crucial victories to virtually wrap up the 71st Corus chess tournament at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands Saturday.

So beat IM Manuel Bosboom of the Netherlands in the 11th round then outwitted GM Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden in the 12th to hike his output to nine points for a one-point lead over Russian Anish Giri with one round left.

Those wins were So’s fourth straight since dropping his eighth round match to GM Frank Holzke of Germany with the 15-year-old Filipino needing only a draw against second seed GM David Howell of England to top the Category-11 tournament.

A loss by So, coupled with a victory by Giri, will create a two-way tie for first.

Giri defeated GMs Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela in the 11th round and Manuel Leon Hoyos of Mexico in the next to vault into solo second place with eight points.

In centerpiece Group A, GM Magnus Carlssen of Sweden and Sergei Karjakin of Ukraine shared the lead with four others with seven points.