Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…The Unstoppable So

Malcolm Pein

July 5, 2021

Malcolm Pein on…The Unstoppable So

Wesley So was unstoppable in the Blitz at the Paris Grand Chess Tour, scoring nine wins and nine draws, to win the event at a canter.

So lost just one game to Levon Aronian. Only world title contender Ian Nepomniachtchi was able to stay within striking distance, until So secured first place with a round to spare after a short draw against Richard Rapport. So then defeated his closest rival to emphasise his dominance of the day’s proceedings.

Nepomniachtchi ended in second overall, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja tied for third.

So won both the Rapid and Blitz sections at Paris and tops the leaderboard of the 2021 Paris Grand Chess Tour, which goes to Zagreb, Croatia next. Play begins on July 6.

Final scores, Rapid scores given first: 1 So 12, 12.5 = 24.5; 2 Nepomniachtchi 11, 10.5 = 21.5; 3 Vachier-Lagrave 9, 9 = 18; 4 Firouzja 7, 11 = 18; 5-6 Aronian & Rapport 8, 9.5 = 17.5; 7 Svidler 9, 8 = 17; 8 Caruana 8, 8.5 = 16.5; 9 Bacrot & Kramnik 10, 5.5 = 15.5; 10 Radjabov 8, 6 = 14.

W So – A Firouzja
Nimzo-Indian 3+2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 c6 (Black invests a tempo to enable cxd5 to be met by cxd5. After 7…c5 or 7…b6 8.cxd5 exd5 White has a central majority, which can advance as in the famous game Botvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO 1938) 8.Ne2 b6 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.f3 Ba6 (Black exchanges his worst piece for White’s best, and should have equal chances) 11.e4 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Qc8 (12…Ne8!? avoids a pin after Bg5. 12…Nc6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 dxe4 15.fxe4 Ne5 16.Qh3 Ng6=) 13.0–0 Qa6 14.Qc2 Nc6 15.Bg5 Ne8 16.Bh4 Qc4 17.e5

17…f6!? (17…Rc8 or even 17…Nxe5 18.Be7 Ng6 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.f4 Nd6 look fine for Black) 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.Qd2 Rae8 20.Rfe1 Nd7 21.Bg3 e5 22.dxe5 Ndxe5 23.Nf4 d4 24. Rac1 d3 (24…dxc3 25.Rxc3 Qd4+ 26.Qxd4 Nxd4 was safe enough. Firouzja always tries to complicate) 25.Re4 Qc5+ 26.Kh1 Qxa3 27.Rce1 Qd6 28.h4 (28.Nxd3? Qxd3 29. Qxd3 Nxd3 30.Rxe8 Nxe1) 28…Qh6 Black assumed his d3 pawn remained secure.

Test Your Strength

What had he overlooked?
White to play and win material

Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answer.

29.Qa2+ 1–0 Nxd3 follows with a pin on the knight on e5.

Play Through the Game

Try Chessable for free

4.9 with 3.65K user reviews

Check them on individual course pages

Malcolm Pein

Malcolm Pein is a British International Master, chess organizer, author and journalist. He was a child prodigy and a former British Junior Champion. He qualified for the International Master title in 1985. Malcolm is a distinguished writer, journalist and editor. He has been a chess correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for over 30 years, has written numerous chess books and is the Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. In 1992, he founded the London Chess Centre, a games store in central London and the UK's only chess shop. He is also the founder and CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose aim is to introduce chess to state schools and has taught the game to over 250,000 children since its inception in 2009. Malcolm is also well-known for his chess event management. He was responsible for the pre-planning of the World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in London 2000. In 2002 he was appointed as Technical Director of the 'Brains in Bahrain' match between Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Fritz. In 2009, Malcolm devised and organized the 1st London Chess Classic - the UK's first world-class elite all-play-all tournament since the 1980s which ran annually until 2019. Malcolm is also very active with the English Chess Federation. In 2016, he was appointed as the Manager and Captain of the England national team. He was also appointed as English Chess Federation delegate to the European Chess Union and FIDE and is the Director of International Chess. In 2018, he also stood for the post of Deputy President of FIDE. In 2021, Malcolm joined the ranks of Chessable authors by bringing the highlights of his column in the Daily Telegraph in the form of an interactive Chessable course, titled Telegraph Tuesday. Profile photograph © Lennart Ootes