Stays at helm after six rounds: So draws with Indian GM

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So fought to a 32-move draw with Indian GM Narayanan Gopal Geetha to remain on top of the heap after six rounds of the ninth Asian Individual Chess Championship at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic last night.

So, 16, tried to come up with a counterplay with the black in the middlegame but just couldn’t shake off Geetha and settled for a draw with no clear chances of winning.

The standoff came on the heels of the Filipino champion’s resounding fifth round victory over Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto that netted So the solo lead Sunday.

He stayed on top with five points, half-a-point clear of GM Yangyi Yu and Ni Hua of China, unheralded Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa of Mongolia and Geetha.

Gundavaa scored the day’s biggest upset when he upended GM Zhou Weiqi of China to join the fancied bets at 4.5 points with three rounds left in the event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Department of Tourism, PCSO, Pagcor and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Ni and Yu also split the point on the board two encounter.

Experts said So, the country’s highest-rated player with a 2665 rating, needs only to draw his last three games to rule the event and earn his second straight World Cup stint.

He needs at least two victories to secure the title worth $6,000.

“I’ll just play my game and see what happens,” said So.

With the position unclear, So first offered the draw on the 30th move, which Geetha, ninth placer in the 2007 edition held in Mandaue City, rejected.

Two moves, later, it was Geetha’s turn to offer a draw, which So accepted.

Top seed GM Le Quang Liem, meanwhile, beat GM Tu Hoang Thong to improve to four points in the company of Filipino GM John Paul Gomez and Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran, who drew their match; and Vietnamese IM Nguyen Than Son, who beat Filipino GM Darwin Laylo.

Also with four points are Indian GM Bakre Tejas, who downed GM Ziaur Rahman, and Iranian Fide Master Ashgar Golizadeh and Megaranto, who also drew their match. GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. led the 3.5 pointers group after he was held to a draw by Chinese Wang Li.