Wesley Wins Battle of GMs

Pinoy number one GM Wesley So has won this year's "3rd Battle of the Grandmasters" tournament in the Philippines. It was an emphatic performance for Wesley who has now bagged the event for a third straight year. For other tournament details, go to chess-results.com.

Thanks to Ignacio Dee I can show you the winner's last round victory over IM Richard Bitoon.

Battle of GMs
Bitoon, Richard
So, Wesley
B78

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 introducing The Dragon, a fave of Carlsen, Radjabov and Kasimdzhanov. 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Rb8 11. Bb3 Na5 12. h4 b5 13. Kb1 Nc4 14. Bxc4 bxc4 15. g4 More common is 15. Ka1 15... Qb6 16. Qc1 Qa5 17. Ka1 Rb6 18. Nde2 Rb7 19. g5 This and his previous move only seem to do black a big favour - opening up the long diagonal for the Bishop on g7! Nh5 20. Qd2 Rfb8 21. Rb1 Ng3! So eliminates one defender. It's over now. 22. Nxg3 Rxb2 23. Bd4 Rxa2+ 24. Nxa2 Rxb1+ 0-1

The event also served as the country's national championships, including that for the women. In a surprise result, last-minute replacement Ylem Jose who is, I am informed, the captain of the Far Eastern University women's chess team, finshed on top with 8.5 points. The question now is: should she get a guernsey for the Olympiad?

Note that the RP squad listed in this post is still subject to further review. It turns out that the names are only nominees.