By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Fil-American Wesley So rebounded strongly, beating Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov two in a row to arrange a mouth-watering title showdown with world No.1 Magnus Carlsen in the Champions Chess Tour Finals on Thursday, Dec. 14, in Toronto, Canada.
After bowing in their first semis duel the day before, 2.5-1.5, the Cavite-born So made sure he would not commit the same mistakes and carved out a 2.5-1.5 win to force a deciding match.
With a spot in the finals on the line, So played much sharper in the do-or-die match to prevail, 2-1.
They both agreed to draw their first two games before pouncing on the Uzbek’s blunder to advance to the finals against long-time rival Carlsen.
The winner in the $500,000 event will take home the top prize of $200,000.
Carlsen cruised to the championship round with a sweep of American Fabiano Caruana.
Like in the first game, Carlsen beat Caruana, 3-2, in the second set.
So will go into the final round with soaring confidence having beaten Carlsen in the fifth round last Tuesday.
