WESLEY SO WINS DUBAI OPEN CHESS

GAINS 15 ELO POINTS AND TOTAL PERFORMANCE RATING OF 2708

RP WHIZ KID Wesley So (2540), currently the youngest grandmaster in the world is this year's winner of the just concluded annual $45,000 Dubai Open Chess Championshionships dubbed as The Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.

The 14-year-old So, finished with 7.0 points on account of six wins, one loss and two draws after nine games of play, the same output of runner-up GMs Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, third placer GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and fourth placer GM Li Chao of China.

Wesley took the championship trophy, the Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup after tie break points was applied. Each of them received US $4,500 after the four players split the combined prize of US$18,000 for the top four finishers.

Wesley received a congratulatory telephone call from National Chess Federation of the Philippines President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. late Sunday.

"Kahanga-hanga ang performance ni Wesley (So) sa Dubai Open Chess, pinakita niya ulit sa buong mundo kung gaano kahusay tayong mga Filipino sa larong chess. Siya ang modelo at halimbawa ng ating mga kabataan na ayon nga kay Dr. Jose Rizal ang pag-asa ng bayan," said Pichay, who already produced three grandmasters under his term, Wesley So, Darwin Laylo and Jayson Gonzales.

According to Wesley's spokesman and businessman Reginald Tee, the Bacoor, Cavite kid campaigner (Wesley So), gained an Elo rating of 15 points after a superb total performance (TPR) of 2708. Wesley also set a record for becoming the youngest Dubai Open Chess champion at the age of 14. This is the 10th anniversary of this tournament where 131 players from 25 countries participated, composed of 29 GM/WGM, 21 IM/WIM and 22 FM/WFM.

"Nag plus 15 Eo rating points si Wesley (So) sa Dubai Open Chess at may TPR (Total Performance Rating) 2708 siyang nakamada," said Tee.

Filipino delegate Casto "Toti" Abundo, who also served as chief arbiter in the Dubai chessfest said that Wesley's next stop is Indonesia where he will compete with their champion, GM Susanto Megaranto before returning home to the Philippines and participate in the Battle of Philippine Grandmasters before end of the month.

In the ninth and final round, Wesley split the point with Li after 18 moves of a Sicilian Defense, Accelerated Dragon skirmish on board 1 while Gagunashvili also halved the point with GM Valeriy Neverov of Ukraine on board 2.

Other Filipino players who participated were IM Julio Catalino Sadorra (5.0 points), journalist Jobannie Tabada (5.0 points), FM Antonio Molina (4.5 points), Ernesto Yap (4.5 points) and NM Robert Arellano (3.5 points).

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO, edited by jovie sison