Wesley So failed to capitalize on his winning opportunities and settled for a draw with Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to slip to joint third after eight rounds in the WR Chess Masters in Dusseldorf, Germany Thursday, Feb. 23.
The 29-year-old So escaped with a marathon 82-move standoff of a Giuoco Piano with the Indian teen sensation for four points. Despite posting his seventh straight draw for a share of third and fourth with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, the Cavite-born So now trails half a point behind co-leaders Levon Aronian of the United States and Dommaraju Gukesh of India. Aronian succumbed to Nepomniachtchi in 53 moves of a London System to stay at 4.5 points while Gukesh caught up with Aronian on top after smashing Russian Andrey Esipenko in 36 moves of a Catalan Opening. So, however, could still catch up on the pacesetters if he could gain favorable results against German Vincent Keymer and Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the last two rounds.
The 29-year-old So escaped with a marathon 82-move standoff of a Giuoco Piano with the Indian teen sensation for four points. Despite posting his seventh straight draw for a share of third and fourth with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, the Cavite-born So now trails half a point behind co-leaders Levon Aronian of the United States and Dommaraju Gukesh of India. Aronian succumbed to Nepomniachtchi in 53 moves of a London System to stay at 4.5 points while Gukesh caught up with Aronian on top after smashing Russian Andrey Esipenko in 36 moves of a Catalan Opening. So, however, could still catch up on the pacesetters if he could gain favorable results against German Vincent Keymer and Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the last two rounds.