Wesley So bucked a fourth-round defeat to Anish Giri of the Netherlands by scoring three points in the first five rounds of the Goldmoney Asian Rapid of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour late Saturday, June 26.
So was quick to bounce back from the loss to Giri by trouncing Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland in 47 moves of a Nimzo-Indian Defense for a share of sixth place with Giri and Duda with identical 3 points.
The trio were just half a point behind the five-man co-leaders composed of Magnus Carlsen, world No. 3 Ding Liren of China, Armenia’s Levon Aronian, and Russians Vladislav Artemiev and Daniil Dubov with 3.5 points each.
The 27-year-old So opened his campaign with a draw with Russian Peter Svidler before crushing United Arab Emirates’ Saleh Salem in the second round.
The Cavite-born American split the point with Carlsen in the third before yielding to Giri that stymied So’s bid to seize the lead.
Up next for So in the sixth round would be Dubov.
The draw with Duda proved crucial for So to keep himself in playoff contention.
So, who ruled the Skilling Open and Euro Opera Rapid, shoots for a seventh straight quarterfinal appearance while eyeing a strong finish to inch closer to Carlsen in the overall Tour lead.