Wesley goes for crucial win vs Dutch GM

WIJK AA ZEE, The Netherlands - Grandmaster Wesley So takes on local GM Friso Nijboer in the 11th round of the Corus Group B Chess Championship Friday, needing no less than a victory for a crack at the crown in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.

So shares the lead with GM Zahar Efimenko of Ukraine, with 6.5 points, just half a point ahead of GM Luke McShane of England and three others, making the 11th round match a must-win game for the Filipino champion.

The 17-year-old So who ended up joint fourth here last year, racked up four straight wins after four draws in a row to seize control but was stopped on his tracks by GM Li Chao of China in the ninth round.

Despite the loss, So clung on to a share of the lead and stayed at the helm with a draw with GM Vlad Tkachiev of France in the 10th round.

But he is tipped to get past Nijboer, who could only come up with three points with three rounds left in the Category 17 tournament.

Efimenko, who drew with So in the fourth round, will meet top seed GM Radek Wojtaszek of Poland in the other crucial 11th round-encounter.

So, priming up for next month’s Aeroflot Open Chess Festival in Moscow, plays McShane in the penultimate round before closing out his campaign against Wojtaszek Sunday.          

The 45-year-old Nijboer is the only player who has yet to win a game so far with six draws and four losses.

So has beaten Nijboer once during their Group C encounter in Corus in 2009, which he ruled to move up to Group B last year.