BY KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Philippine-born Wesley So pulled off a pair of impressive victories on top board as the United States clobbered Ukraine with a two-match sweep Friday to advance to the semifinals of the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad.
Getting top board assignment after World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura begged off, So was up to the task as he hurdled both Vassily Ivanchuk and Anton Korobov to power the Americans to surprisingly easy win over the Ukrainians, 4.5-1.5, and 4-2.
The US will next face many-time Olympiad champion Russia, which will be bannered by Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Grischuk, ranked fourth and sixth in the world, respectively, on Sunday.
So’s quarterfinal performance made up for his struggles in the group stage where he scored only six points out of the possible nine on four triumphs, four draws and a defeat.
His only loss came at the hands of GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda that also led to the Americans’ stinging 2.5-3.5 defeat to the Polish.
Incidentally, Poland shocked Azerbaijan to advance to likewise advance to the semis where it will play India.
