Wesley So settled for a fourth straight draw, this time against fellow American Sam Shankland to seize a share of the lead after four rounds of the group stages in the FIDE Grand Prix Tournament Leg 3 in Berlin, Germany Friday.
So agreed to a truce after 30 moves of a King’s Indian Attack to slightly improve to two points and tied with erstwhile leader Alexandr Predke, who absorbed a loss to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Predke’s loss created a four way logjam with Shankland, So and Vachier-Lagrave.
The final two rounds are expected to go down to the wire as only the top finisher will get entry to the quarterfinal stage.
So hopes he’ll end up with the slot since he’s aching to win this tournament for a chance to gain enough Grand Prix points to clinch one of the two berths to the Candidates Tournament set June 16 to July 7 in Madrid, Spain.
The Candidates will determine who will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the world classical title.