MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American standout Wesley So hopes to brighten up a dim season while US-based Filipino Grandmaster Oliver Barbosa tries his mettle against the chess elite when they compete in the historic World Rapid & Blitz Championships in Wall Street, New York — a tournament that has a prize fund of nearly $1.5 million (over P80 million).
The Cavite-born So will try to rebound from dismal performances in the US Chess Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, in October and the recent Champions Chess Tour Finals ruled for the fifth straight time by world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Oslo, Norway.
So, denied a major title this year so far, landed eighth in the US Championship, which he has won three times, and eighth and last in the CCT Finals after finishing second to Carlsen the previous year.
Like So, Barbosa — formerly of Pasig and now a New Yorker — will be marking his initial appearance in the World Rapid & Blitz, being staged in the US for the first time starting on Thursday, December 26 (Friday, December 27, Manila time).
Carlsen, who has swept both the rapid and blitz titles since 2022, is again the top favorite in both events, where he will be challenged by Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and So.
The 31-year-old So, the first winner of the Fischer Random World Championship, is ranked No. 11 in the rapid event ending on December 28 and No. 4 in the blitz competition scheduled for December 29 to 31. The Open section will be played at Cipriani Wall Street and the women’s section at 48 Wall Street.
Barbosa, 38, teaches chess and coaches the Speyer Legacy School team in New York. The former Chess Olympian copped the New York State Championship in 2019 and is seeded No. 47 and No. 56 in the rapid and blitz competitions, respectively.
The Open Rapid lured 182 players, including 135 GMs, while 112 entered the women’s division. – Rappler.com