Filipino chess prodigy, Grandmaster Wesley So, who totes a FIDE rating of 2710, may have an easier time in the 2013 World Chess Cup starting on Monday in Tromso, Norway but not his colleagues GM Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua.
So who is seeded No. 33 in the contest faces 96th seed GMAlexander Ipatov of Turkey (ELO 2584). He recently won a gold medal in Kazan, Russia during the the 27th Summer Universiade and is on college scholarship under the Judith Polgar foundation in the US.
The highly-regarded triad of So,Paragua and Barbosa will be trading mind power against the world's best chess players and are expected to bring home honors since they have been selected as the country's cream of the crop this year.
"No problem with Wes, but Barbosa (ELO 2571) and I are underdogs due to our FIDE ratings," said Paragua (ELO 2565) whose most recent project was a simultaneous chess exhibition in Marilao, Bulacan where six-year old James Henry Calacday forced him to a draw.
In the first round, Paragua will battle 28th seed GM Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia (ELO2724) while 100th seed Barbosa plays 29th seed with ELO 2702 GM Le Quang Liem of Viet Nam.
It will be harder for Barbosa who is playing his firstWorld Chess Cup.
In the first round of the 2011 World Chess Cup version in Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia, Paragua lost to England`s GM Michael Adams 0.5-1.5.
So was also beaten by then top seed Ukrainian GM Sergey Karjakin in the blitz tie-break of the Round 2 of World Chess Cup 2011. *PNA
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