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Wesley So completes Sinquefield Cup hat-trick, pockets P5.4 million top prize

Sports

Wesley So completes Sinquefield Cup hat-trick, pockets P5.4 million top prize

By Reynald I. Magallon

At A Glance

Needing only a draw on the black pieces to win the contest as the decider rules give Praggnanandhaa's a five-minute limit on the white, So did just enough to stave off the Indian star to become the tournament's winningest with 3 solo titles, counting his victory in the 2016 Sinquefield Cup.

Filipino-born Grandmaster Wesley So defeated Indian sensation Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in Armageddon to win the Sinquefield Cup crown for the third time and bag the P5.39-million champion’s purse on Thursday, Aug. 20.

Needing only a draw on the black pieces to win the contest as the decider rules give Praggnanandhaa a five-minute limit on the white, So did just enough to stave off the Indian star to become the tournament's winningest with three solo titles, counting his victory last year and in the 2016 edition.

So is now actually tied with Fabiano Caruana who also has three titles, but one of which he shared with Levon Aronian in 2018. So and Praggnanandhaa both finished with 5.5 points after the 10-man, round-robin classical matches, then drew the two rapid playoffs prompting the tie-breaker.

He drew with German No. 1 Victor Keymer in the first round, before notching back-to-back wins against Dutch star Jorden van Foreest and Caruana.

Also a three-time US champion, So drew his remaining games against Praggnanandhaa, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, and Sam Sevian in succession.

The victory allowed So to improve to No. 5 in the world rankings behind Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Caruana and Sindarov.

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Wesley So Sinquefield Cup

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