Wesley So downed Indian teenage sensation Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, 2.5-1.5, to storm back into contention after four rounds of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals in San Francisco, California Thursday, Nov. 17.
The Cavite-born American won the third of their four-game duel while settling for draws on the rest of their games to clinch his second straight win after losing the first two rounds.
The result catapulted So from seventh to solo fourth with six match points to show.
Reigning world classical champion Magnus Carlsen blanked Dutch Anish Giri, 3-0, to stay unscathed with 12 points, a full three points ahead of No. 2 Jan-Krysztof Duda of Poland, who succumbed to Vietnamese Le Quang Liem, 3-1, with nine points.
Le moves up to No. 3 with seven points.
So guns for another match win when he clashes with Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the fifth round.
Mamedyarov is coming off a 3-1 fourth-round loss to Indian rising star Arjun Erigiasi, 3-1.
So ran into early trouble and went down at the hands of Carlsen and Le in the first two rounds before springing back to life with an abbreviated 2-1 bashing of Erigiasi in the next.