GM Wesley So of the Philippines added defending champion GM Gata Kamsky of the United States to his list of world-class victims, claiming a decisive 1.5-.5 triumph in their crucial third-round showdown in the 2009 World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts here Saturday night
In a fitting follow-up to his equally shocking 1.5-.5 upset win over former world championship finalist GM Vassily Ivanchuk in the second round, the 16-year-old So avoided unnecessary risk with the white pieces and finished off Kamsky with a draw in 42 moves of the Dutch defense.
The multi-awarded Filipino champion from Bacoor, Cavite, who is expected to breach the super GM ELO 2700 mark at the end of the year, holds a slight initiative in a rook and bishop ending when he accepted Kamsky's offer to split the point.
When the game was agreed drawn, So and Kamsky had a rook, bishop and four pawns each.
So,
who shocked Kamsky in the opener of their two-game third round showdown Friday, thus earned the right to advance to the 16-player fourth round against the winner of the match between GMs Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine and Vladimir Malakhov of Russia.
The 11th-seeded Eljanov ( ELO 2729) and the No. 22 Malakhov (ELO 2706), who drew their first two games. are set to play rapid tiebreak matches late Sunday night.
"I'm really happy to have played well against Kamsky. But I really spend a lot of time for preparations for every single opponent. I know that even if they are already super GMs, they can also make mistakes," So told the official website of the World Cup. - PNA
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