The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) Golden Classic tournament is in full swing in this week in Bergamo, Italy. After three rounds of play, Grandmaster Wesley So is dominating in a series of tough games and currently leads the tournament 2.5/3 points. His game from round one, although on the short side at 23 moves and ending in a draw, was a hard fought battle of wits between the two GMs.
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[Event “ACP Golden Classic 2014”]
[Site “Bergamo ITA”]
[Date “2014.07.12”]
[Round “1.2”]
[White “So, Wesley”]
[Black “Sutovsky, Emil”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[WhiteElo “2744”]
[BlackElo “2620”]
[ECO “E62”]
[Opening “King’s Indian”]
[Variation “fianchetto, lesser Simagin (Spassky) variation”]
[WhiteFideId “5202213”]
[BlackFideId “2802007”]
[EventDate “2014.07.12”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Bf5 8. d5
Na5 9. Nd2 c6 10. b4 Nxc4 11. dxc6 Nxd2 12. cxb7 Rb8 13. Bxd2 d5 14. Rc1 Rxb7
15. a3 Ne4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Bc3 a5 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qc2 axb4 20. Bxe4 Bxe4 21.
Qxe4 Qb8 22. axb4 Rxb4 23. Qe3 1/2-1/2
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The second game, played against Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi, showed fighting spirit on the part of the challenger, but as is mentioned in the commentary (courtesy of [Chessbase](http://www.chessbase.com)), the game was essentially over after move 20 when a series of blunders let Wesley wipe him across the board.
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[Event “ACP Golden Classic 2014”]
[Site “Bergamo ITA”]
[Date “2014.07.13”]
[Round “2.2”]
[White “Nepomniachtchi, Ian”]
[Black “So, Wesley”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A18”]
[WhiteElo “2730”]
[BlackElo “2744”]
[PlyCount “138”]
[EventDate “2014.07.12”]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. d4 e5 8. Nf3
Nc6 9. Bg5 Qg6 10. d5 Nb8 11. h4 h6 12. Be3 Nd7 13. h5 Qd6 14. Bd3 Be7 15. Nd2
Nf6 16. f3 O-O 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. fxe4 Qa3 19. Qb3 Qa5 20. Be2 Bc5 21. Bd2 f5 22.
Rf1 fxe4 23. Rxf8+ Kxf8 24. O-O-O Kg8 25. Rf1 Bd7 26. Kb1 Qb6 27. Ka1 Rf8 28.
Rxf8+ Kxf8 29. Qxb6 axb6 30. Be1 Ke7 31. Kb2 Ba4 32. Bg4 Bg1 33. Bg3 Kd6 34.
Be2 e3 35. Kc1 Be8 36. Kd1 Bf2 37. Bh2 Ba4+ 38. Kc1 Be1 39. Kb2 Bh4 40. g4 Bf6
41. Kc1 Kc5 42. g5 hxg5 43. Bg1 Bd7 44. Bxe3+ Kd6 45. Kd2 g4 46. h6 gxh6 47.
Bxh6 Bf5 48. Ke3 Bh4 49. Bf8+ Be7 50. Bh6 Bh4 51. Bf8+ Be7 52. Bh6 c6 53. dxc6
bxc6 54. Bf1 Ke6 55. Bg2 Bc5+ 56. Ke2 Kd7 57. Bg7 Bd6 58. Bf6 Bb1 59. a3 e4 60.
Ke3 Ke6 61. Bd8 Kf5 62. Bxb6 Bxa3 63. Kd2 Bd6 64. Be3 Bf4 65. c5 Bd3 66. Bh1
Ke5 67. Bg2 Bc4 68. Bh1 g3 69. Bg2 Be6 {Ian Nepomniachtchi: “The results shows
it all. Basically the game was over after 20 moves because I made 5-6 bad
moves in a row and then I had no chance to get the initiative. The endgame is
just a matter of technique.”} 0-1
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Perhaps the most interesting game so far has been Wesley’s third round game against Daniele Vocaturo. This was the first time that the two met each other across a chessboard and it provides some very interesting variations on both sides.
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[Event “ACP Golden Classic 2014”]
[Site “Bergamo ITA”]
[Date “2014.07.14”]
[Round “3.1”]
[White “So, Wesley”]
[Black “Vocaturo, Daniele”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “E99”]
[WhiteElo “2744”]
[BlackElo “2584”]
[PlyCount “85”]
[EventDate “2014.07.12”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. f3 f5 11. Be3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1 Rf6 14. Nd3 b6 15. b4
Rh6 16. c5 a6 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. g4 fxg3 19. hxg3 Ng6 20. Kg2 Nf6 21. Rh1 Rxh1
22. Kxh1 b5 23. Be3 h6 24. a4 Bd7 25. axb5 axb5 26. Nf2 Nh5 27. Kh2 Ra3 {
Wesley So realised he would be better if he manages to exchange some pieces,
due to black’s structure and the bad Bishop on g7. However, it is not easy to
do so, while the knights on h5 and g6 are always threatening to jump around
the white king. Because of the the complex position, So considered offering a
draw here, but afterwards was happy he decided to play on.} 28. Qd2 Qe8 29. Qb2
Ra8 30. Bd2 Qf7 31. Ncd1 Nxg3 {Vocaturo felt quite confident when he made this
sacrifice. The plan is to play h6-h5 and g5-g4, followed by Bh6. Vocaturo
regretted playing Rf8 and g4, and proposed to play h5-h4 immediately with good
practical chances. When So played 36.Rg1, Vocaturo realized he couldn’t keep
his attack going and had to resign soon after. Wesley So confessed he was
quite tired, due to both the long games and his jetlag, as he arrived from St
Louis one day before the tournament.} 32. Kxg3 Nf4 33. Nc3 Rf8 34. Be3 g4 35.
fxg4 h5 36. Rg1 hxg4 37. Bxg4 Nd3 38. Qe2 Nxf2 39. Bxd7 Qxd7 40. Bxf2 Rf6 41.
Be3 Qf7 42. Kh2 Kf8 43. Rg2 1-0
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