Grandmaster Wesley So overpowered rising star Alireza Firouzja, 2.5-0.5, to seize the first of their two-set quarterfinal showdown in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Magnus Invitational Wednesday, March 17.
The 27-year-old So needed just three of their four-game first-set duel to bring down the 17-year-old Firouzja, an Iran-born player representing FIDE, after winning the first two in smashing fashion and drawing the third.
The World Fischer-Random king and two-time United States titlist would just need to draw the final four-game set to advance to the semifinals of this leg staking a total cash pot US$220,000.
The Cavite-born, Minnesota-based So eyes to keep his stranglehold of the overall tour lead as he goes for a third title.
He took the opening leg, the Skilling Open, in December last year and the third, the Opera Euro Rapid, last month.
World classical champion Magnus Carlsen had a surprisingly easy time against Levon Aronian, born in Armenia but will soon represent the US, with a 2.5-0.5 triumph, in the other quarters matchup.
While Carlsen and So went trouble-free, other quarters matches pitting Dutch Anish Giri against French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi versus American Hikaru Nakamura ended up in 2-2 standoffs.
The winner of the Giri-Lagrave pairing will play either So or Firouzja while the victor in the Nepomniachtchi-Nakamura battle clashes with either Carlsen or Aronian.