Wesley So draws Nakamura in US Chess Championship

MANILA, Philippines – Once more, bleary-eyed Filipino chess fans stayed up from 2 am to around 6 am Sunday to watch Wesley So, number five in the world, battle Hikaru Nakamura to a draw in the fourth round of the US Chess Championship.

So, who was upended by the fearless youngster Samuel Sevian in the third round, won a pawn against Nakamura on the 32nd move of their Queen’s Gambit battle. But Nakamura showed why he is the world’s second-ranked player as he resisted successfully to draw their game in 54 moves. 

All matches ended in draws, which meant Nakamura and Ray Robson, So’s former teammate at Webster University, lead with 3 points out of 4 followed by So with 2.5 points. 

It is the posts by fans that form half the story, rather than the analysis. After So won a pawn, people in his chesspage began to feel victory was at hand. But user geniokov groaned after Nakamura sacrificed another pawn, thus making him two pawns down. 

“Anak ng tinapa! Nag draw pa! Di ba kayang ma convert ni Wesley sa Lucena position by giving the h-pawn,” said geniokov. He was referring to a maneuver used to convert rook and pawn endgames to victory.   

“How can any self-respecting Filipino sleep through this?,” said RT2 at the chessbomb.com live arena.  

But mysql at the So fan page speculated: “Maybe So is hiding his preparation for the Gashimov Memorial (which starts three days after the US Championship). He doesn’t seem to be playing like his usual self.” 

So transferred from the National Chess Federation of the Philippines to the US Chess Federation last October 2014. 

Two months later, he left Webster University to become a chess professional. At Webster University, he was trained former women’s world champion Susan Polgar for three years and it bore fruit as he became one of the world’s best 10 chess players. – Rappler.com