By Kristel Satumbaga
Grandmaster Wesley So ran into trouble in the first of the two-day blitz part of the 2020 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament and slipped from first to second place as reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen surged ahead on Friday.
The 26-year-old So scored just five points out of a possible nine as he was stymied by a first-round defeat to 19-year-old Jeffrey Xiong of the United States.
Xiong, who defeated Carlsen early this year, trained under Filipino Grandmaster and University of Texas-Dallas coach Julio Catalino Sadorra for two years in 2013 to 2015.
So was tied for third with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in Day One of blitz behind Carlsen with 6.5 points and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States with 5.5.
But thanks to the Cavite-born chesser’s first-place performance in the rapid phase the first three days, So was not that far from Carlsen, who currently has 18.5 points or just a point ahead of the former.
Afar third was Nepomniachtchi with 15 points.
The final of the five-day event staking $250,000 (roughly 12.5 million) is being played at press time.
