Wesley So exacts revenge on Robson, battles Aronian for $75,000 top purse

MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So got back at Ray Robson on Monday, March 18 (Tuesday, March 19, Manila time), and advanced to the American Cup 2024 grand finals at the Saint Louis Chess Club in Saint Louis, Missouri.

The Filipino-born So flagged down Robson, his winner’s bracket semifinal round conqueror, twice in the blitz section to prevail, 4-2, and forge a title showdown with Levon Aronian, who topped the winners’ bracket at the expense of Robson.

After that loss to Robson, So rebounded with victories over Sam Sevian and world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana, setting him up for the grudge rematch against Robson, who has won the last five editions of the Puzzles World Championship.

So, a three-time US champion, needed to squeeze out a win in the fourth game to tie Robson, 2-2.

Already having the positional edge, So took out Robson in the two-game blitz with 3-minute, 2-second increment time control to keep his bid for the title that he lost to absentee Hikaru Nakamura in 2023.

Aronian suffered the same fate as So in the 2022 edition won by Caruana.

The winner of the So-Aronian finals will bag $75,000 (P4.2 million), with the loser settling for $50,000 (P2.8 million). – Rappler.com

$1 = P55.92