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A stunning turn of events transpired in the chess world before 2020 came to an end as Grandmaster Wesley So, world champion Magnus Carlsen and fellow big names crashed out of the Airthings Masters early Thursday (Manila time)

Grandmaster Wesley So lost with the white pieces twice to France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and dropped the first of two four-game quarterfinal matches, 3-1, in the Airthings Masters of the Champions Chess Tour Wednesday.

Grandmaster Wesley So downed Russian Daniil Dubov in 33 moves of a Ruy Lopez in the 11th and final round to finish tied for first in the preliminaries of the Airthings Masters of the Champions Chess Tour Tuesday.

Grandmaster Wesley So drew all his four games including one against recent tormentor and fellow United States bet Hikaru Nakamura in the fifth round to keep his grip of the lead with five others and stay in quarterfinal contention in the Airthings Masters of the Champions Chess Tour Monday.

Grandmaster Wesley So smashed Dutch GM Anish Giri and drew his other three games including one against world champion Magnus Carlsen to grab a piece of the lead with four others after four rounds of the Airthings Masters of the Champions Chess Tour on Sunday.