Draws seal So’s North Am title romp

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So settled for back-to-back draws with Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi and American GM Julio Becerra to all but wrap up the crown with a round left in the 24th North American Chess Open in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday.

Bu ended the top-seeded So’s six-win streak with a marathon 82-move standoff in a Maroczy bind variation of the Sicilian Defense but the Filipino ace now playing for the US Chess Federation kept his one-point lead intact with a quick 18-move draw with Becerra in a Ruy Lopez game.

With seven points and a point ahead of Becerra heading to the final round, Bu and American Alex Yermolinsky, So is a cinch to win the top $10,000 purse.

Bu and Yermolinsky also split the point in just 19 moves of a Slav duel to join Becerra at second with six points.

So will clinch first place regardless of his ninth and final round result against world No. 9 and fellow US player Hiraku Nakamura due to a superior tiebreak.

It will be So’s fourth victory in the year about to end after topping the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba, ACP Golden Classics in Bergamo, Italy and the Millionaire’s Cup in the United States where he pocketed $100,000.

More importantly, So’s current live rating, 2768.7 and No. 10 ranking will be all-time highs after starting the year at No. 28.

The event serves as part of So’s buildup for the super strong Tata Steel Masters set Jan. 9 in The Netherlands where he will face the top GMs in the world, including reigning men’s and women’s world champions Magnus Carlsen and Hou Yifang.