“It’s a new challenge for me. It’s like in Corus. There are lots of good players in this tournament,” said So, who finished in a tie for fourth to fifth places in Group B in the Corus tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands.
Laylo, the reigning Asian Zone 3.3 champion, is fresh from a respectable performance in the recent World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia late last year.
National Chess Federation of the Philippines President Prospero Pichay expressed confidence that both So and Laylo will again do well in Aeroflot.
“Even with his fourth-place finish in Corus, Wesley is playing very well. He is getting a lot of attention in the chess world even from foreign chess organizers who invite him to join their tournaments,” said Pichay.
“Darwin, who topped the Asian Zonals, is just as good and talented,” added Pichay.
The total prize fund in the Aeroflot tournament is 70,000 euros, with the champion getting the lion’s share of 21,000 euros, the runner-up receiving 12,000 euros and the third placer pocketing 7,000 euros.
Other notable players invited in Division A-1 this year are GMs Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, Bu Xiangzhi of China, Gabriel Sargisian of Armenia, Alexander Onischuk of the United States, Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus, Tigran Petrosian and Arman Pashikian of Armenia, Murtas Kazgaeyev of Kazkahstan, Rauf Mamedov of Uzbekistan, Ilia Smirin and Maxim Rodshtein of Israel, Vadim Milov of Switzerland and Evgeny Tomashevsky, Alexander Riazantsev, Dimitry Bocharov, Vadim Zvjaginsev and Pavel Smirnov of Russia.
Source: Emil Noguera | The Manila Times
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