Grandmaster Wesley So drew with Russian Peter Svidler in 56 moves of a Ruy Lopez to finish at fourth place at the conclusion of the rapid play of the 2021 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz of the Grand Chess Tour Friday.
The reigning world Fischer-Random king and two-time United States champion finished tied for No. 4 with Svidler and American Sam Shankland with nine points apiece but wound up with the highest tiebreak score to claim fourth place.
The 27-year-old So’s campaign was dealt a big blow following a sixth-round defeat at the hands of fellow American Fabiano Caruana.
In all, So finished with a win and seven draws.
Another American in Hikaru Nakamura topped the event 12 points, a point ahead of Caruana and Hungarian Richard Rapport who finished with 11 points.
So hopes to bounce back in the two-part, 18-round blitz section set Saturday until Monday.
Points in the rapid section will be carried over into the blitz category.
So finished third in the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, Romania and topped the Paris Rapid & Blitz of the GCT.