Wesley So overtakes Caruana in Clutch Chess finals

After grabbing the early lead in the finals, Wesley So inches closer to upsetting world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana

MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So downed Fabiano Caruana in the sixth game on Thursday, May 28 (Friday, May 29, Philippine time) to lead the first half of their finals tussle, 4.5-3.5, in the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown.

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Caruana won Game 2 but So overtook him since the fifth and sixth games were worth 2 points under the novel format conceptualized by Grandmaster Maurice Ashley.

So and Caruana drew Games 1,3 and 4 valued at 1 point each and Game 5 of the event confined to the top 4 players of the United States being played over 10 minutes with 5 seconds increment.

The Filipino-born So and the Italian-born Caruana will play the other half of the finals on Friday to determine the winner of the $30,000 top purse. The outcome will be down to the wire as the 11th and 12th games are worth 3 points each.

So, the world’s first Fischer Random Chess king at the expense of world champion Magnus Carlsen, came from behind to topple Nakamura, 9.5-8.5, while Caruana, who mans board 1 for the US, dumped Leinier Dominguez Perez, 15-3, in the 12-game semifinals.

Hounded by that defeat to So, Nakamura got swamped by Carlsen, 3-0, in Day 1 of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge semifinals.

After trading wins with China’s Ding Liren, Russia’s Daniil Dubov snatched Game 3 to prevail, 2.5-1.5, in the other Round of 4 encounter.

Nakamura and Ding must prevail on Day 2 of the semifinals, otherwise Carlsen and Dubov will dispute the S45,000 champion’s prize in the tournament serving as leg 2 of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. – Rappler.com