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Wesley So draws vs top seed in World Chess Cup


Playing white, Russian grandmaster (GM) Sergey Karjakin initially went on the offensive against the black pieces of Filipino GM Wesley So. But So, using his knights and the right flank of his pawns, patiently and carefully set up his defensive formation to block the full frontal offense Karjakin launched.

Wesley So takes notes during the first game of his Round 2 duel with world's No. 4 Sergey Karjakin at the World Chess Cup in Russia. chess.ugrasport.com
So forced the Russian to commit, at the ninth move, one of his white pawns. Karjakin broke through the defense line-up of black pawns, but So sent his bishop racing to intercept the intruder and be within striking distance of the white king’s security cordon. So then placed his queen behind his attacking bishop, making Karjakin pull back his bishop. The lad from Cavite opened up Karjakin’s defense even more by distracting a white knight with an advancing pawn. With his 12th move, So took the Russian’s bishop that was closest to his king. But Karjakin’s king was not So’s real target. So wanted the white queen to come out from behind the Russian’s other bishop and to lure her out. So’s attacking bishop was the bait. When Karjakin took the bait by making his queen subdue So’s daring bishop, the Filipino struck with his queen. Karjakin promptly had his king take down So’s queen. By that time, the Russian’s offensive line-up was cut up and took time to regroup. It was time that allowed So to easily protect his king behind a phalanx of pawns and knights. Karjakin tried to whittle away at So’s defense, sacrificing more pieces in the process, including a rook. Powerless against So’s well-positioned pawns and knights, Karjakin opted to call an end to the match via a draw on his 31st move. So, seeded 64th in the World Chess Cup and currently ranked 89th in the world, is paired up against world's No. 4 and tournament top seed Karjakin in Round 2 of the FIDE World Chess Cup 2011 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The 25-page "Regulations of the World Chess Cup" governs the tournament and some of the most important rules are these:
    3. 4. 3. Pairings shall follow the principle of top half vs. lower half reversed (1-128, 2-127...). Thus the highest ranked player of the top half shall play the lowest ranked player of the bottom half. The second ranked player of the top half shall play the penultimate ranked player of the bottom half. And so on. 3. 4. 4. For the second and subsequent rounds pairings shall follow the same procedure as in 3.4.3 with the clarification that if the lower ranked player wins in any match, he shall automatically assume the position of the higher ranked player. 3.6.1 The time control shall be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. 3.7.1 For the first 6 rounds, each match shall be played over two (2) games and the winner of a match shall be the first player to score 1.5 or more points. 3.7.2 The final 7th round will be a match played over four (4) games and the winner of the World Cup will be the first player to score 2.5 or more points. 3.8.1.a If the scores are level after the regular games, after a new drawing of colors, two (2) tie-break games shall be played. The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes for each player with an addition of 10 seconds after each move.
The tournament will run until September 20 and the victor in Round 7 goes home with the grand prize of $96,000 and the title of world champion. – Earl Victor Rosero, GMA News
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