It just took two games for Wesley So to score 1.5 points in the second day to win the first Chess.com Global Championship. Unlike the first day, Wesley played defensively this time around. The commentators Caruana and Giri included even criticized his "timid" play in the first game but he was content with a draw with White. In the second game, Nihal sacrificed a pawn for the initiative. He had an attack on the King side but Wesley defended well, even using his King as a defensive piece.
Here, Stockfish likes 26. ...h5 or Rxd1 but Wesley chose 26. ...Kh8 with the threat of 27. ...Bxf6.
Here 29. ...Kg8 defending the f7 pawn 30. h5 g5 seals the win.
Congrats to Wesley So for a job well done!
Nihal is not too unhappy with second place and $100,000 prize. Not bad for a teenager. 😀