Wesley So Wins Grand Chess Tour and London Chess Classic

Wesley So, Photo Lennart Ootes

Wesley So caps off a great year with victory in both the overall Grand Chess Tour standings as well as the final event on the tour,  the London Chess Classic. So ended in clear first with 6/9 with compatriot Fabiano Caruana in second with 5.5/9 while Anand, Kramnik and Nakamura tied for 3rd-5th.

[pgn] [Event "London Chess Classic"] [Date "2016.12.15"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2794"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:24:03"] [BlackClock "0:26:51"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. a4 d6 7. Bg5 Ba7 8. Nbd2 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 O-O 11. O-O Nh7 12. h3 h5 13. d4 exd4 14. Nxd4 g4 15. hxg4 hxg4 16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. e5 d5 18. Be2 Qg5 19. a5 f5 20. exf6 Nxf6 21. Ra4 Rf7 22. Re1 Nh5 23. Bxg4 Nxg3 24. Re8+ Kg7 25. Rxc8 Bxf2+ 26. Kh2 Qe5 27. Kh3 Ne2 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "London Chess Classic"] [Date "2016.12.10"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2794"] [BlackElo "2748"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] [WhiteClock "1:10:07"] [BlackClock "1:00:33"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 a5 11. Nc3 Ra6 12. Qd3 Rb6 13. Qc2 h6 14. Bd2 Bb4 15. Rfe1 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Nc6 17. e3 e5 18. Bxc6 exd4 19. Bf3 dxc3 20. bxc3 Bc5 21. Rab1 Rd6 22. Red1 b6 23. c4 Qe7 24. Bc3 Rfd8 25. Bb2 Qe6 26. Rxd6 Rxd6 27. Rd1 Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 Bd6 29. Qd4 Qe8 30. Bd1 Qc6 31. Bc2 Kf8 32. e4 Bc5 33. Qd8+ Ne8 34. Qd5 Qg6 35. Kg2 Ke7 36. f4 c6 37. Qd3 Nc7 38. f5 Qg5 39. Be5 Ne6 40. fxe6 1-0 [/pgn]

Congratulations to Wesley So for winning the #GrandChessTour! He showed great consistency &, bad news for opponents, he’s still improving.

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) December 17, 2016

The 2016 Grand Chess Tour final standings was a boon for the US team, as our Women's Chess Champion Nazi Paikidze pointed out.

It's a great time for chess in the US! #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/8pc0ZjuiMg — Nazi Paikidze-Barnes (@NaziPaiki) December 18, 2016

Look for more analysis of the London Chess Classic later this week, and learn further details on the next season of the Grand Chess Tour here including announcements on an additional 2017 rapid event and the introduction of a universal rating system.