Wesley So Reaches Number 2 in the World

There is no end in sight for Wesley So's meteoric rise. Last weekend, he won the Tata Steel Masters section, winning a super-tournament ahead of the World Champion for the first time. His quick last round victory against Ian Nepomniachtchi sealed 1st place only 3 hours into the round, leaving Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Wei Yi to fight for 2nd place.

[pgn][Event "Tata Steel"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Ian Nepomniachtchi"]
[Black "Wesley So"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2017.01.14"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. e4 h6 6. Bh4 dxe4 7. Qe2 Qa5 8.
O-O-O Qxa2 9. Qb5+ Nbd7 10. c6 bxc6 11. Qxc6 Bb7 12. Qxb7 Qa1+ 13. Nb1 Rb8 14.
Qxb8+ Nxb8 15. Bb5+ Nfd7 16. Ne2 Be7 17. Bxe7 Kxe7 18. Nd4 Nc5 19. h4 Rd8 20.
Rh3 Nd3+ 21. Bxd3 Rxd4 22. Be2 Rxd1+ 23. Bxd1 Qa5 24. Nd2 f5 25. Rg3 Qe5 26.
Ra3 Nc6 27. g3 Qd4 28. Re3 Nb4 0-1[/pgn]

"I think the secret is that if you keep working and you have a clear view of your vision and your goals, then the results will come. And, I don't lose too much sleep trying to keep my undefeated streak." -Wesley So

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=a1T8-fd-mYQ Carlsen drew against Sergey Karjakin in their first classical encounter since the World Championship, taking clear 2nd, a full point behind So.

[pgn][Event "Tata Steel"]
[Site "0:26:33-0:31:33"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Black "Sergey Karjakin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C53"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2017.01.14"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. Nbd2 h6 8. Bh4
g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Kg7 11. Qf3 Be6 12. b4 Bb6 13. Bd5 a5 14. b5 Nb8 15.
Bxb7 Ra7 16. Bd5 Nbd7 17. Nc4 Bxd5 18. exd5 Qe8 19. Ne3 Rg8 20. O-O Nh7 21.
Nf5+ Kh8 22. Bh4 Ra8 23. Rae1 f6 24. Re4 Nc5 25. Re3 Nd7 26. d4 Qg6 27. Ne7 Qg4
28. Nxg8 Rxg8 29. Qxg4 Rxg4 30. g3 exd4 31. cxd4 Bxd4 32. Re8+ Rg8 33. Re7 Rg7
34. Re4 Ne5 35. Kg2 Bb6 36. f4 Ng6 37. Kh3 Kg8 38. Rfe1 Kf7 39. Re6 Rg8 40.
R1e4 f5 41. Re2 Rh8 42. a4 Kg7 43. Rxg6+ Kxg6 44. Re6+ Kf7 45. Re7+ Kg8 46. Kg2
Nf8 47. Bg5 Rh7 48. Re8 Kf7 49. Rd8 Kg8 50. Re8 Rf7 51. Bh6 Rf6 52. Bg5 Rf7 53.
Bh6 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

In addition to winning one of the strongest tournaments of the year, Wesley So reached 56 games in his undefeated streak, gained 14 rating points, and reached a new peak live rating of 2822. Because Fabiano Caruana suffered a loss to Nigel Short in the ongoing Gibraltar Open, this was enough to make So the clear number 2 in the world, within 16 points of Carlsen. Another American player who made quite an impression at Tata Steel is Jeffery Xiong. During his debut in the Challengers section, Xiong was a force to be reckoned with, fighting for 1st throughout the event. He finished in clear 3rd place with a new peak FIDE rating, 2674. This brings him to number 74 in the world, eyeing the 2700 mark at only age 16. His most impressive victory was in round 11 when he defeated Ilia Smirin and took over the sole lead of the tournament:

[pgn][Event "Tata Steel (Challengers)"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2017.01.27"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Jeffery Xiong"]
[Black "Ilya Smirin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2667"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2017.01.13"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Nc3 Ne4 8.
Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qb3 Bc6 10. O-O Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nd7 12. a4 O-O 13. a5 b6 14. Qa2 bxa5
15. Nd2 Nb6 16. Qxa5 e5 17. Ba3 Re8 18. e3 Qd7 19. Rfd1 Bf6 20. dxe5 Bxe5 21.
Bc5 Rec8 22. Bd4 Qe7 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. c4 Qe6 25. c5 Nc4 26. Nxc4 dxc4 27. Rd6
Qe8 28. Bxc6 Rxc6 29. Rad1 Qe4 30. Qc3 Re8 31. Rxc6 Qxc6 32. Qxc4 Rc8 33. h4 h5
34. Kh2 Kg7 35. Qc3+ Kh7 36. Qc4 Rc7 37. Rd5 a5 38. Qd4 Rc8 39. e4 a4 40. Rd7
Kg8 41. Rd6 Qb5 42. c6 a3 43. Kg2 Qb2 44. Qd5 Kg7 45. Rxg6+ fxg6 46. Qd7+ Kh6
47. Qxc8 Qe5 48. c7 Qxe4+ 49. Kh2 Qd4 1-0[/pgn]

For more information on Tata Steel, visit the Official Website.