Zhou Weigi beat Wesley So !

Pinoy wonderboy GM Wesley So (left) suffered his first defeat against Chinese Zhou Weiqi in the 5th round. Zhou now lead the tournament with Indonesian GM Susnto Megaranto with 4.5 points each. They'll meet each other in the 6th round.





Below are my joint analysis with Mr.Fritz.

GM Wesley So (2540)- Zhou Weiqi (2560) [C11]
2nd Philipines Open 2008, Round 5

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Be2 0–0 9.0–0 a6 10.Qd2 b5 11.Nd1 b4 12.Nf2 Qb6 13.c4 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Less advisable is 14.Bxd4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Bc5 14...Bc5 15.Rad1 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Bb7 17.Bxc5 17.Ng4 dxc4 18.Ne3 Bd5 19.Nxc4 Bxc4 20.Bxc4 Rfd8 17...Nxc5 18.f5 Nd7 19.Qf4 exf5 20.Qxf5?!

After sacrificing a pawn one move before, Wesley probably think that he should get it back immediately. However Zhou have "something in the menu". With hindsight, Wesley should delay capturing the f5 pawn and play 20.Bf3!? instead 20...Rae8 21.Bxd5 Nxe5 (21...Rxe5?? 22.Bxb7) 22.c5= with dynamic equality. 20...Nxe5 21.Qxe5 Rae8 White now face problem to find suitable square for his queen. 22.Qh5 g6 23.Qh4 23.Qg4!? Is probably better but black still have the advantage 23...f5 24.Qd4 (24.Qf3? Re3) 24...Qxd4 25.Rxd4 Rxe2 26.cxd5 Rxb2 27.Nd3 Rxa2 28.Nxb4 Usually passed pawn on the queenside is stronger then passed pawn on the center 23...Rxe2–+ 24.cxd5 Rd8 25.Rd4? slightly better is 25.Qd4 Qxd4 26.Rxd4 Rxb2–+ but still black has the upper hand 25...Rxd5 25...a5!? might be the shorter path 26.Qf4–+ 26.Rxb4 Rb5 27.Rxb5 axb5 28.Kh1?? White falls apart 28.Qf4–+ is necessary. Probably Wesley didn’t anticipate black reply on move 31. 28...Qc6 29.Qd8+ Kg7 30.Qg5 30.Qd4+ doesn't improve anything 30...f6 31.Ne4 Rxe4–+ 30...f6! 31.Qg3 This position deserve a diagram

31.Qg4 does not win a prize 31...Rxf2! Mate attack 32.Rd1 (32.Rxf2 Qc1+) 32...Rxg2 33.Qd7+ Kh6 34.Qxc6 Bxc6–+ 31...Re3!! 1-0 . Wesley Resign. 32.Qg4 h5–+ He couldn’t guard the g2 square anymore. An excellent win by Zhou. 1-0

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