Grandmaster Wesley So absorbed a stinging defeat at the hands of world champion Magnus Carlsen and finished fourth in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Magnus Invitational Monday.
The 27-year-old So bowed in the first set, 3-1, and 2-1 in the next match of their battle for third place in the tournament topped by the Netherlands’ Anish Giri.
Giri, who beat So in their semifinal duel, needed two playoff blitz games to turn back Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, a semis winner over Carlsen, to clinch the title and the $60,000 top purse.
Despite the result, So remained on top of the tour leaderboard with 140 points and $85,000 earnings that mostly came from his two triumphs in the Skillings Open late last year and the Euro Opera Rapid a month back.Carlsen jumped to No. 2 from No. 3 with 135 points, edging past Teimour Radjabov after the Azerbaijan bet failed to make the quarterfinals. Radjabov slipped to No. 3. (Kristel Satumbaga)
NCAA ManCom chairman at PSA Forum
Updates on NCAA Season 96 and the latest MILO campaign for 2021 headline the two-part session of the online version of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.
NCAA Management Committee Chairman Fr. Vic Calvo Jr. of host Letran will tackle the outlook for the country’s oldest collegiate league on whether it can push through with its new season this year given the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
MILO on the other hand, is going to have a virtual launch of its new campaign entitled ‘Mula Noon, Hanggang Ngayon.’ Nestle Philippines-MILO Assistant Vice President Lester P. Castillo, PBA legend and MILO BEST Center graduate Jerry Codinera, and another MILO BEST Center graduate and US NCAA rookie Ella Fajardo are going to discuss the project.
The public sports program presented by San Miguel Corporation (SMC), Go For Gold, MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), will start at 10:00 a.m.
PCAP: Laguna, Iloilo favored vs QF rivals
The Laguna Heroes and Iloilo Kisela Knights banner the quarterfinal cast in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All-Filipino Conference which fires off on Wednesday.
Laguna and Iloilo claimed the No. 1 seedings in the Northern and Southern Divisions after topping the preliminaries with identical 30-4 win-loss records.
The Heroes arranged a meeting with the eighth-seeded Antipolo Cobras in the knockout quarters, which will be played with one blitz and one rapid set composed of seven boards each.
The Kisela Knights, for their part, will be facing the Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors.
The Southern Division, meanwhile, will have No. 2 Camarines vs No. 7 Mindoro, No. 3 Negros vs No. 6 Lapu-Lapu, and No.4 Zamboanga vs No. 5 Toledo. (Kristel Satumbaga)
Pinoy Skater pulls out of world tilt
Filipino-Swiss figure skater Alisson Perticheto has pulled out of the 2021 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm, Sweden this week due to an injury.
“I’m very sad to not participate to [the] Worlds this week due to some bad shin splints,” Perticheto told the Manila Bulletin-Tempo in an online exchange Monday, March 22.
The 23-year-old Filipino-Swiss was the lone representative from the Philippines and Southeast Asia in the world championships. (Carlo Anolin)
