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Wesley So draws with Nepomniachtchi, remains at joint second

Sports

Wesley So draws with Nepomniachtchi, remains at joint second

By Kristel Satumbaga-Villar

Wesley So posted his third straight draw, this time against World Championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi to remain at joint second after four rounds of the WR Chess Masters in Dusseldorf, Germany Sunday, Feb. 19.

Wesley So is currently at joint second after four rounds in the WR Chess Masters in Germany. (Photo from tournament social media)

So split the point with the Russian Grandmaster after 41 moves of a Catalan Opening to slightly improve to 2.5 points and tie with Indian teenage sensation Dommaraju Gukesh.

Gukesh, 16, also halved the point with German Vincent Keymer.

So had a strong start in the tournament after downing Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda but drew his next three outings that include Dutch Anish Giri and Gukesh.

Against Gukesh in the third round, So said he tried to gain an advantage as much as he can, but it wasn’t enough for a victory.

“It’s funny. At Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Chess), I played him and he lost because of his poo time management. But he improved on that tremendously and so he’s improved a lot over the last few months,” the 29-year-old So said of Gukesh.

“It’s not so easy to beat teenagers,” he added.

Meanwhile, Armenia-born Levon Aronian of the United States tightened his grip of the solo lead with three points after halving the point with Duda.

Nepomniachtchi, meanwhile, was in a group of two-pointers at fourth that included Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and another Russian in Andrey Esipenko.

After the tournament takes a one-day rest on Monday, Feb. 20, So will plunge back into action against Esipenko in the fifth round hoping to get a needed break in keeping his title bid alive.

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