Endgame arsenal

A lot of chess books recommend to study the endgames first before the openings. Why don't we ask GM Wesley So about this?

Wesley's performance in his 4th round encounter with FM Mustafa Yilmaz (2362) in the ongoing World Youth U16 Olypiad in Turkey may be sufficient enough to know his answer.

The position below shows Wesley's deep endgame arsenal:

Black (Mustafa) has just moved 61. . . Ka8. Did you know how Wesley sealed his victory?

In fact, Wesley's 62nd move is just the finale of his endgame prowess. In this particular game, some said his tactical and positional knowledge in endgame started as early as move 49.

Replay the full game:

[Event "World Under 16 Chess Olympiad"]
[Site "Mersin, Turkey"]
[Date "2008.08.19"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wesley So (PHI - GM 2577)"] [Black "Mustafa Yilmaz (Turkey A - FM 2362"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Bb4 10. Nxd5 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 Qxd5 12. Rg1 O-O 13. Bg2 Qe5+ 14. Qe3 Qa5+ 15. c3 Nd7 16. Nb3 Qc7 17. O-O-O a5 18. Nd4 Ra6 19. Bf1 Rb6 20. Nb5 Qc5 21. Qxc5 Nxc5 22. Be2 Bd7 23. Nd6 Bc6 24. Nc4 Ra6 25. Ne5 Ra7 26. Rd6 Be8 27. f3 Ra8 28. Rgd1 f6 29. Nd3 Nxd3+ 30. Bxd3 Bc6 31. Be4 Bxe4 32. fxe4 Rae8 33. Rb6 Re7 34. Rb5 Ra8 35. a4 Rc7 36. Rd6 Kf7 37. Kc2 Re7 38. c4 g5 39. Rdb6 Ra7 40. e5 fxe5 41. Rxe5 h6 42. Rbb5 Kf6 43. Rxa5 b6 44. Rxa7 Rxa7 45. Rb5 Rxa4 46. Kd3 Ra1 47. Rxb6 Rh1 48. c5 Rxh3+ 49. Kc4 Ke5 50. b4 Rh4 51. Kb5 Rxg4 52. Rb8 h5 53. c6 Kd6 54. Rd8+ Kc7 55. Rd7+ Kc8 56. Rh7 h4 57. Kc5 Rf4 58. b5 Rf8 59. Ra7 Kb8 60. Kb6 Rc8 61. Rb7+ Ka8 62. c7 1-0