CHESS PIECE

he “Frenchman with Two Names”

Vachier-Lagrave (MVL) is on a mission — he wants to be the next world champion. He thinks hecanbeatMagnusCarlsen.

As our readers know there have been only two people who have defeat- ed Carlsen in three consecutive games — Wesley So accomplished that feat in the recent World Fischer Random Chess Championship. MVL beat Magnus twice in the Abidjan (Ivory Coast) Grand Chess Tour event earlier this year, and then got the third straight victory in the Norway opening blitz tournament in Stavanger. This Stavanger event must have been especially bitter for Carlsen, as up to then (June this year) he had won all five tournaments he participated in for the year. MVL not only broke his streak, he also snatched first place in the 9-round single round robin and did it by upending Carlsen in the final round.

But to play a world championship match means that he has to go through the Candidates’ tournament, and as strong a player as he is GM Vachier-Lagrave has never been able to qualify.

Back in the previous world championship cycle MVL already made a determined

BOBBY ANG is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the

Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net