Wesley So considers this win at an elite tournament in the Netherlands one of his favorite games.
A Wesley So gem: Knight sacrifice exposes the king
March 25, 2015 at 12:24PM
So has the black pieces against Grandmaster Vasil Ivanchuk in round 8 of the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk ann Zee on Jan. 18, 2015.
On his 14th move, So uncorks a knight sacrifice that blows open the protection around white's king. So's pieces then swarm in and Ivanchuk has no way to survive the attack.
Ivanchuk, Vasil (2715) - So, Wesley (2762)
77th Tata Steel Chess Masters Wijk aan Zee
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 Nf4 14.Nf3 541 14.Nxg2! 15.Kxg2 a5 16.Rxe7 Qxe7 17.c3 Ra6 18.d4 Rf6 19.d5 a4 20.Bc2 Rd8 21.Qe1 Qd7 22.Ng5 h6 23.Ne4 Rg6+ 24.Kh2 f5 25.Ng3 Qxd5 74 26.Qg1 Qf3 White resigns because the only way to avoid immediate checkmate is to give up material. 0-1
So went on to place second (tied) in the tournament, behind World Champion Magnus Carlsen. In So's game against Carlsen in the tournament, they drew.
-- DENNIS J. McGRATH
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