Wesley So Teaches Chess

In an old article, I expressed the opinion that some games played by really strong grandmasters shouldn't be studied by inexperienced players. Therefore I suggested to assign chess games ratings similar to movies. The article claimed that according to this classification, "Magnus Carlsen's games are definitely NC-17 and not suitable for players rated under 1500." 

Naturally, I got a question in the comments about which chess player's games are suitable for less experienced players. Thank you for a very good question! In the article I recommended to study Capablanca's games, but if you are looking for more recent games, then you cannot go wrong with Wesley So!

The Filipino-American grandmaster is one of the biggest natural talents in chess. According to his former second, GM Tukmakov, Wesley never had a coach until he reached top 10 in the world! The way So plays reminds me of the signature style of Alexander Alekhine: quick development, central strategy, and a fight for the initiative!

I pity the poor soul who decides to break opening principles while playing Wesley, since the punishment will be very swift and painful! No one is safe playing So, even the great ones!

We've already analyzed one very interesting detail of this game in this article. Please note that it was just a three-minute blitz game! Can you imagine how dangerous is Wesley So in games with a regular time control?

The game So vs. Kasparov last only 25 moves, which is considered a miniature. Usually in such games one player makes a mistake and his opponent demonstrates a refutation. In many cases miniature games are very instructive and you can definitely learn a lot from the short games of Wesley So! 

A Pin

This is one of the most basic and also the most powerful weapons in chess. The next example might be chess tactics 101, but it shows that even super-GMs like Anish Giri fall for it! Find how Wesley So forced his opponent to resign.

Double Attack

This is another very basic element of chess tactics.

Eliminate The Defender

It is a very common situation in chess when your opponent's piece or a pawn covers a key square or protects a valuable piece. In such a situation do not hesitate to sacrifice material and eliminate the defender! In the following games Wesley So shows how to do it. 

Smothered Checkmate

A true chess player always gets excited when he sees a smothered checkmate! Here Wesley So delivers the familiar pattern.

Next week we'll learn more advanced tactics from Wesley So's games.