So nails GM norm despite loss

By Inquirer MANILA, Philippines--A day after securing the second of three grandmaster norms he needs to become a full-fledged GM, Wesley So lost his match against Indian International Master Abhijeet Gupta in the 10th round Saturday of the World Juniors and Girls Chess Championships at the T. Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia. The 14-year-old from Bacoor, Cavite, resigned after 38 moves of a Sicilian Defense, Ritzer Rauzer Attack, and fell out of contention with just three rounds left in the tournament. The loss was the third for So, who also has five victories and two draws. The standings: 7.5 points -- GM Wang Hao (China), GM Ivan Popov (Russia), IM Grigoryan Avetik (Armenia); 7.0 -- GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt), GM Georg Meier (Germany), GM Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), IM Abhijeet Gupta (India); 6.5 -- GM Arman Pashikian (Armenia), GM Daniel Stellwagen (Netherlands), GM Victor Laznicka (Czech Republic), IM Marcus Ragger (Austria), IM Davit Jojua (Georgia),Viacheslav Kulakov (Russia); 6.0 -- IM Wesley So (Philippines),GM Maxim Rodshtein (Israel), GM Parimarjan Negi (India), GM David Howell (England), GM Gawain Jones (England), IM Daan Brandenburg (Netherlands), IM Evgeny Romanov (Russia), IM Gogineni Rohit (India), IM Gopal Narayanan (India), IM Fidel Corrales (Cuba), IM Tamas Banusz (Hungrary), IM Hrant Melkumyan (US). Report from Marlon Bernardino, Contributor