Grandmaster Wesley So blew a winning game against Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and settled for a draw at the start of the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis, Missouri Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
So split the point after 50 moves of a Giuco Piano Opening to get stranded in the middle of the pack with half a point to show.
Leading the way in the tournament staking a total prize fund of $325,000 (around P16.3 million) were Americans Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez Perez and French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who won their opening round games.
Caruana bested fellow American Sam Shankland in 38 moves of a Queen’s Pawn London System; Dominguez Perez pounced an endgame blunder by the time-troubled Dariusz Swiercz of the US in 58 moves of a Petroff Defense; and Vachier-Lagrave smashed Russian Peter Svidler in 30 moves of a Benko Gambit.