BY EMIL C. NOGUERA CORRESPONDENT

Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So ousted former world championship contender super GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, 1.5-.5, to advance into the third round of the prestigious 2009 World Chess Cup being held at the Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts in Russia. So, easily one of the most popular young players in the world’s biggest individual chess competition, battled the sixth-seeded Ivanchuk to a draw in the second of their two-game encounter.

The 16-year-old Filipino wizard will next face fellow child prodigy GM Gata Kamsky of the United States in the round-of-32 beginning on Friday.

The Russian-born Kamsky was the same player who eliminated another Filipino GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. in the first round and GM Zhou Weiqi of China in the second round.

A fourth-year high-school student of St. Francis of Assisi College, So created a big stir on Tuesday when he pulled the rug from under Ivanchuk despite handling the black side of the board.

The upset win over Ivanchuk, coupled with a similar impressive 4-1 triumph over GM Gadir Guseinov of
Azerbaijan in the first round enabled So to rewrite history as the first-ever Filipino player to reach the third round in the World Cup.

So surpassed the achievements of Antonio and GM Mark Paragua who just reached as far as second round of the World Cup.

Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre qualified as far as the quarterfinal stage in a different world championship elimination format.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines President and Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay and FIDE honorary lifetime president Florencio Campomanes both lauded So’s newest achievement.

“Like [world boxing champion] Manny Pacquiao, Wesley is now a national treasure. He gives the whole nation something to cheer about after all those natural calamities. His success makes us all proud to be Filipinos,” said Pichay, whose untiring leadership in the local chess association produced So and six other new GMs in less than four years.

Campomanes, long acknowledged as one of the prime movers of the sport in the whole world, congratulated So for “putting the country back in the international chess map again.”

Antonio, who lost to Kamsky in the first round, and Laylo, who was eliminated by GM David Navara of Czech Republic, are expected to help So prepare his strategy against Kamsky.

A win by So over Kamsky will further cement his claim as the world’s strongest junior player and give him the rare distinction of advancing to the 16-player fourth round.