WESLEY SO

KHANTY-Mansiysk, Russia — Grandmaster Wesley So reached the second round of the 2009 World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Festival of Arts here and became the only survivor among three Filipinos competing in the event.

So eliminated GM Gadir Guseino of Azerbaijan, 3-1, and advanced to tough, 64-player second round of this six-part competition after sweeping all three rapid tiebreak matches against Guseinov.

The 59th-seeded So, who was forced into the rapid tiebreak stage after losing the second game to Guseinov, left nothing to chance as he outplayed his Azerbaijan rival in the next three matches.

GM Darwin Laylo was not as fortunate as he lost to No. 21 seed GM David Navara of Czech Republic, 1-2, and joined fellow compatriot GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. as one of 64 first-round casualties.

The pride of Lipa City, Batangas, who made his second straight appearance in the world's biggest chess competition, split the first two against the higher-rated Navara (ELO 2707) to send the match into tiebreak stage.

But after drawing with Navara in the first two rapid games, Laylo yielded the next two games and finally bowed out of contention.

Antonio, the most-experienced member of the three-man Filipino delegation, was the first casualty during the weekend matches.

Antonio, who earned the right to play in the World Cup by virtue of his strong showing in the Asian Continental Chess Championship held in Subic early this year, bowed to defending champion and No. 27 seed GM Gata Kamsky of the United States, .5-1.5.

Antonio lost the first match and managed only to draw the second game against the Soviet-born American player.

Top seed GM Boris Gelfand of Israel, who won over IM Andrei Obodchuk of Russia, 1.5-.5, led the march of the favorites to the second round.