Wesley So returns to action in over-the-board Superbet Chess Classic

United States champion Wesley So gets to play over the board again when he tangles with Azerbaijan No. 1 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the opener of the Superbet Chess Classic on Saturday, June 5, at Sheraton Bucharest, Romania.

Confined to rapid and blitz online events since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, So and nine other super Grandmasters are taking part in the $325,000 (P15.6 million) event ushering the country-hopping 2021 Grand Chess Tour (GCT).

According to So, who left Minnesota USA on Wednesday, he is very excited to travel again, but at the same time “very, very nervous” as to how he will fare in the classical chess tournament.

So said during the post-finals interview of the FTX Crypto Cup, where he placed second to world champion Magnus Carlsen, that it has been 17 months since he last played over the board.

Joining So and Mamedyarov – who share eighth and ninth spots in the world with their Elo rating of 2770 – in the round-robin event are world No. 2 and top seed Fabiano Caruana (Elo 2820), Levon Aronian (2781), Anish Giri (2780), Alexander Grischuk (2776), Teimour Radjabov (2765), and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2760).

Completing the 10-man roster are Romanian stars Constantin Lupulescu (2656) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2627), who replaced an ailing Richard Rapport.

So, the Philippines’ top player before switching to the US federation in 2014, tackles Aronian on June 6, Grischuk on June 7, Caruana on June 8, and Deac on June 9 before the tournament takes a break on June 10.

So returns against Giri on June 11, Radjabov on June 12, Vachier-Lagrave on June 13, and Lupulescu on June 14.

Other legs of this year’s GCT offering a total purse of $1.275 million (P61.2 million) are the Paris Rapid and Blitz set June 16 to 23 in France, Croatia Rapid and Blitz slated July 5 to 12 in Zagreb, St. Louis Rapid and Blitz scheduled August 9 to 16 in Minnesota, USA, and the Sinquefield Cup set August 16 to 28 also in Minnesota. – Rappler.com