So, German split point in 39 moves

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So held solo leader GM Georg Meier of Germany to a draw and remained three points behind the pacesetter after nine rounds of the 2010 SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Group A tournament at the Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas Sunday.

So failed to gain any headway with the black in their English Opening encounter, forcing an early exchange of queens on the 16th before steering the game into a drawish rook and bishop endgame. They split the point after 39 moves.

The standoff enabled Meier to keep the solo lead in the six-player, Category-16 tournament with 16 points while So stayed in joint third with top seed GM Zoltan Almasi of Hungary with 13 points.

Almasi, who will meet So in the final round, defeated GM Alexander Onischuk of the US in the other ninth round result. Onischuk slid to solo second with 15 points.