Wesley bows out with another draw

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So played to a draw against GM Zhou Jianchao of China and bowed out of contention in the eighth round of the Aeroflot Open chess tournament at the Izmailovo Gamma-Delta Hotel in Moscow Tuesday.

So initiated an early attack on the black’s kingside but the lower-rated Chinese defended well with the King’s Indian and forced the Filipino champion to accept the draw offer after 34 moves.

The standoff all but dashed So’s title as the 16-year-old student from St. Francis College-Cavite fell behind by one point with one round left in the tournament. He had 5 points.

GMs Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam share the lead with six points, half a point ahead of former champion GM Ian Nepomnichtchi of Russia, GM Anton Korobov of Ukraine and GM Boris Grachev of Russia.

So hopes to close out his campaign with a victory against GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela in the final round Wednesday.


Iturrizaga toppled last year’s co-champion GM Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine to match So’s output.

Le trounced erstwhile co-leader GM Boris Savchenko of Russia, while Nguyen shocked GM Evgeniy Najer of Russia to gain a share of the lead.

Korobov defeated GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, while Nepomniachtchi and Grachev battled to a draw for joint third with 5.5 points.

Source: Author Unknown  | Philstar.com