joeyj
10 May 2014
chessaccount.wordpress.com
After two rounds of play at the 49th Capablanca Memorial 2014, the Philippines top rated Grandmaster Wesley So ranked Nr 23 in the World with 2731 FIDE rating, a first timer in this prestigious chess tournament, needed only two rounds to secure the sole leadership scoring 1.5/2 (+1=1).
Round 1 (8 May):
On the opening day (8 May), R1, of the 6-man Elite Group (Category 19 with rating average of 2721), comprised of five(5) former Capablanca Memorial Champions:
1. Vallejo Pons , Francisco ESP 2700 (2001 winner)
2. Bruzon Batista, Lazaro CUB 2682 (2002 winner)
3. Domínguez Perez, Leinier CUB 2768 (2004, 2008 & 2009 winner)
4. Ivanchuk , Vassily UKR 2753 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011 & 2012 winner)
5. Almási, Zoltan HUN 2693 (2013 winner)
6. So, Wesley(PHI)2731 (first-timer)
All 3-games in R1 were drawn and reported as “Tres tablas”. Wesley So and 2002 winner Lazaro Bruzon in their Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation (E32) reached a drawn rook ending position with Wesley So a pawn up ( 3 pawns Vs 2 pawns) after the 64th move … 64.Rd4 Re1+
R1: So, Wesley-Bruzon Batista, Lazaro :½-½
64. Rd4 Re1+ ½-½
Round 1 results
Wesley So vs Lazaro Bruzon Batista ½-½
Francisco Vallejo Pons vs Zoltan Almasi ½-½
Leinier Dominguez Perez vs Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½
::: ::: :::
Round 2 (9 May):
So, Wesley – Vallejo Pons, Francisco : 1-0
Wesley So Vs Francisco Vallejo on their Spanish Game: Berlin Defense. Berlin Wall J. Rogers Line (C67), Wesley penetrated the Berlin Wall with superb positional play and shattered the wall with an extremely smooth and precise play. The 22. Nd6+ (a knight sacrifice) was a shocker that surprised so many kibitzers & chatters alike. After white’s 42. e6, the 2001 winner Vallejo Pons (2700), Spain’s top ranked hyper-GM & ranked Nr. 47 in the world, resigned his position.
42. e6 1-0
In the other 2-boards, between Zoltan Almasi (2693) – Leinier Dominguez (2768) and Lazaro Bruzon Batista (2682) – Vassily Ivanchuk (2753) ended in drawn positions.
Round 2 results
So, Wesley – Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0
Bruzon Batista, Lazaro – Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½
Almasi, Zoltan – Dominguez Perez, Leinier ½-½
Standings after 2 rounds
1. So, Wesley g PHI 2731 1½
2. Bruzon Batista, Lazaro g CUB 2682 1
3. Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2768 1
4. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2753 1
5. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2693 1
6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2700 ½
Round 3 (10 May) Pairings:
Dominguez Perez, Leinier – So, Wesley
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Almasi, Zoltan
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Bruzon Batista, Lazaro
All the games (R1 to R10) starts at 3PM (Havana time) or 3AM (PHI time). Live games could be watched and replayed at the following sites:
https://arena.chessdom.com/#/stream_tournaments/show/127
http://chessbomb.com/site/
Live ratings of GM Wesley So (PHI)2731) and his scheduled opponents until R10.
Sources:
http://columnadeportiva.com/
http://www.fide.com/
http://chessdom.com/
http://www.chessgames.com
Capablanca Memorial
