I will not mince any words today to describe my disappointment with GM Wesley So in his first outing in the recently-concluded Candidates Matches in Berlin, Germany.
Oh, it hurts to see him finish next to last in the two-round robin tournament among eight participants the winner of which will challenge the reigning world titleholder for the FIDE world championship in November this year.
Previously, as his renown for consistency became global, Wes was touted as one of the worthiest opponents there could be in the chess horizon.
He had won three of the most prestigious competitions including the US Open, Tata Steel in Wijk An Zee in Netherlands and the Sinquefield in Missouri where the world’s top ten and strongest grandmasters take part.
He was described by most authoritative chess analysts as a strong potential challenger to Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
But Wesley disappointed his millions of Filipino chess fans as he amassed just 6.5 points of 14 games (two straight losses, 11 draws and one win).
I followed his matches late into the night and past midnight and (though amateurishly) consulted my chess-playing media friends who were all downhearted by his lackadaisical plays.
In contrast, the low-key Chinese GM Ding Liren got into serious contention. He held the record as the only undefeated player and snatched third place with a couple of wins and 12 draws for 8 points.
Wesley, very apparently, did not have a coach nor an able second who could have assisted him in analyzing his opening repertoire and his opponents’ playing style too.
He suffered a humiliating setback to eventual winner Fabiano Caruana, a teammate in the US Olympic team, in his opening match even if he could have, at the very least, settled for a draw.
His next match he likewise lost to Grischuk of Russia for a 0-2 record which was largely seen by many, including this writer, as a bad omen.
Yes, as the chess world now saw it, Wes never recovered from then on.
The Berlin Games brought So back down to earth, so to speak.
Concerned media friends who had previously covered Wesley’s tournament performances in the Philippines before our boy moved over to the US Chess Federation, said the level of play in the ‘Candidates’ is at a higher plane where all participants come to battle in complete armor, shield and ammo.
These, they told me, Wes did not bring with him.
While So tried to maintain his choice of solid positional plays, he appeared to me as lacking the aggressiveness that most skilled technicians of the game have.
Ex-world titlist Vladimir Kramnik displayed this characteristic when he crushed Levon Aronian, the World Cup topnotcher, with a ferocious attack beginning with his eighth move with a rook to g8, when players usually go into the motion of castling instead.
You know when your opponent does that, a kingside attack would follow.
I never saw this offensive onslaught in any of Wesley’s games.
I think he loves to engage his foes tactically, emerging from book lines that are usually done swiftly in seconds because a player normally ponders longer when his opponent employs an out of the book variation.
I thought Wesley’s middle game maneuvers were too passive as his next several games ended in boring draws that we, kibitzers, already knew would happen.
My friends and I concluded that for Wesley to achieve his dream and successfully challenge for the world title, he had to re-design his mindset.
It is a war you go out there, kid.
Either kill or get killed. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) Philippians 2:5: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” GOD BLESS THE PHIIPPINES!
