Wesley So pursues 3rd crown in Carlsen Invitational

Wesley So tries to sustain his strong showing in the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) when he joins the Magnus Carlsen Invitational starting on Saturday, March 13, and ending on March 24.

The Cavite-born So, now a United States citizen, has won 2 of the first 3 events of the $1.5 million (P72 million) tour and is one of the favorites to contend for the $60,000 (P2.88 million) purse of the online event that has drawn 16 elite players, including Magnus Carlsen, the world champion trying to break out of a slump.

So starts his campaign against Ian Nepomniachtchi, followed by Sergey Karjakin, Teimour Radjabov, Argentine qualifier Alan Pichot, and Anish Giri.

Though ranked lowly at No. 9 in the rapid event, So is expected to cruise into the quarterfinals with top 3 seeds Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Hikaru Nakamura.

Only the top 8 after the 3-day, 15-round preliminaries will advance to the knockout playoffs. (READ: Proud Fil-Am Wesley So grateful to PH legend Eugene Torre)

So, the reigning US champion who maintains he is Filipino-American, ruled the Skilling Open, the inaugural leg, last November, and the Opera Euro Rapid last month to pace the overall points race in the CCT.

His third-round match with Radjabov is much-awaited because the Azerbaijani triumphed in the Airthings Masters, where So, Carlsen and Nakamura were booted out of the quarterfinals.

Carlsen has yet to win in the tour but is tipped to rebound in the tournament bearing his name and where he is the defending champion.

Beaten by So in the finals of both the Skilling and the Opera Euro, Carlsen regards So as his toughest opponent for supremacy this year.

Completing the field are Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, teen sensation Alireza Firouzja, Daniil Dubov, Jorden van Foreest, David Anton, and Nils Grandelius, another qualifier from Sweden. – Rappler.com