GCT: So leads in Leuven

So dominant so far

Also on the second day of the Rapid Chess tournament in Leuven, Wesley So played calm and unspectacular, but strong and successful. He won with White against Anish Giri, with Black against Alexander Grischuk and played draw against Aronian.

Round 4

In the fourth round, So showed that he had not lost his form overnight. Against Giri, he won a pretty positional game with a petite combinación à la Capablanca.

Master Class Vol.4: José Raúl Capablanca

He was a child prodigy and he is surrounded by legends. In his best times he was considered to be unbeatable and by many he was reckoned to be the greatest chess talent of all time: Jose Raul Capablanca, born 1888 in Havana.

Giri's last move ran into 23.Nxa6! when 23...bxa6 would run into 24.d6! Instead, Giri went for 23...Nf7 but was in a serious hole from which he could not emerge.

Fabiano Caruana had a tough time on the first day. But in the American prestige duel against Hikaru Nakamura earned him his first victory in the tournament — thanks to a small strategic feat.

Tactic Toolbox Ruy Lopez / Spanish Opening

Starting with Black's alternatives on move 3 and working through until the main lines of the Closed Lopez and the Marshall and Anti-Marshall, the viewer will find his knowledge of the opening developing in tandem with an improvement in his tactical ability.

Teammates, rivals: The American top ten triumvirate | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 5

In round five, So won a seemingly balanced position after Grischuk made a serious mistake in the king and pawn endgame.

Power Play 15 - Practical Pawn Endgames

Based on his own playing experience, Grandmaster Daniel King reveals what is essential knowledge, saving you time in your studies. In the first section of the DVD he takes you through typical motifs and themes. In the second section he tests your knowledge with typical scenarios from actual games.
Video: 4 hours.

This position was drawn...until...34.Ke3? (34.f4 Kxf4 35.Kf3 grabs the important opposition.) 34...Kxf5 35.Kf3 but the difference is that White will run out of moves and be Zugzwang-ed into submission. 35...g6 36.a4 a6.

The only player who could keep up the pace of So was Levon Aronian. In round six, he played with Black against Anish Giri and repeated a line of the Berlin Defence with which he had lost a disastrous game against Magnus Carlsen. But this time he turned the tables and gained an energetic attack.

Of course, games with a reduced time to think are objectively not as good in terms of quality as classical games are — the players simply make more mistakes. But you can sometimes see things in rapid and blitz games that you rarely get in classical games between top players. The following lively exchange between Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is a typical example.

Round 6

In the last round of the day, So played with White against Levon Aronian, who was in second place in the standings. So took no risk and quickly led a play of the Catalan opening in an endgame that was a fairly tame draw.

Levon Aronian considers his options | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Thus, So maintained his lead and is now on 10 points out of a possible 12, remaining alone at the top. Two points behind is Aronian. So has good chances to win the rapid portion of the tournament tomorrow.

Standings after six rounds (with double point scoring)

Round-up show:

Games of rounds one to six

Commentary webcast

Commentary by Yasser Seirawan, Jovanka Houska, Alejandro Ramirez (St. Louis)
Maurice Ashley and Nigel Short (Leuven)

Translation from German: Macauley Peterson

Links

• Grand Chess Tour
• Your next Move, Leuven
• Watch live
• So with a solid start