Grandmaster Wesley So squeaked past teen prodigy Nihal Sarin, 15-14, to barge into the finals of the Speed Chess Championships 2021 Tuesday.
The third-seeded So banked on championship experience to outplay the 14-year-old Indian Grandmaster in the crucial blitz 3+1 segment where the Cavite-born American prevailed, 5.5-4.5.
So and Sarin tied in blitz 5+1, 5-all, as well as in the bullet 1+1 segment, 4.5-all.
The victory arranged So a championship duel with the winner between defending champion Hikaru Nakamura of the United States and Chinese fourth seed Ding Liren.
So appeared to have an easier time in toppling American Jeffrey Xiong, 18-14, in the opening match, and fellow American Fabiano Caruana, 17.5-9.5.
The tournament dangles a US$100,000 total prize fund with the champion earning $10,000.
The event also follows a format of five blitz matches in 90 minutes, three blitz duels in 60 minutes and one bullet match in 30 minutes, all with one-second increments.