By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Grandmaster Wesley So whipped Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov and set up a title rematch with reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in the Opera Euro Rapid of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Saturday.
The 27-year-old So needed just three games to eliminate Radjabov, 2-1, and advance to the finals against Carlsen on Sunday.
Carlsen, meantime, dodged the upset bid of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France by winning the deciding Armageddon playoff for the anticipated showdown with So.
So, the world Fischer Random and two-time United States champion, eyes a repeat performance over Carlsen where the Cavite-born player won their title duel in the Skilling Open last December.
And it looked like So is the favorite to win the $30,000 pot as he has displayed the better form compared to Carlsen.
After earning the third seed at the end of the preliminaries, So overpowered Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland, 4.5-1.5, in the quarters before edging Radjabov with the same score in the semis.
Meanwhile, Carlsen struggled a bit, needing a pair of Armageddon playoffs in turning back Russian rising star Daniil Dubov and Vachier-Lagrave.
