Wesley So falters in World Rapid chess event as Russian Volodar Murzin rules

MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So’s slump extended to the 2024 World Rapid & Blitz Championships on Saturday (Sunday, December 29, Manila time) as he finished out of the money in the rapid section won by Russian sensation Volodar Murzin on Wall Street, New York City.

The Bacoor, Cavite-born So lost his 13th and final round match to Russian GM Aleksandr Shimanov and wound up with 7.0 points, settling for a woeful 61st place among 182 entries in the event where he was seeded 11th.

New York-based GM Oliver Barbosa fared even worse, scoring 6.0 points and landing 121st in the event rocked by the disqualification of world No. 1 and defending champion Magnus Carlsen on Friday for wearing jeans, a breach of FIDE rules on attire in tournament play.

The 31-year-old So drew with GMs Andrei Volokitin, Shant Sarsyan, and Mikhail Antipov in succession before yielding to Shimanov and pulling down his record to 3 wins, 2 losses and 8 draws. The three-time US champion had a performance rating of 2544, way below his 2739 rapid rating.

So also wound up eighth and last in the recent Champions Chess Tour Finals in Oslo, Norway.

The $1.43M (P81 million) event takes a break on Sunday (Monday, December 30, Manila time) and will resume with the blitz section on Monday (Tuesday, December 31, Manila time).

So is seeded fourth in the event, where Barbosa is also entered. – Rappler.com