So hangs on; Wei closes in

Wesley So. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Filipino-American pacesetter Wesley So settled for a draw with Russian Dmitri Andreikin on Friday, allowing Chinese sensation Wei Yi to close in heading into the penultimate round of the 79th Tata Steel Masters Chess in the Netherlands.

So raised his total to 7.5 points in 11 rounds, just half a point up on Wei, who stunned Armenian Sergey Karjakin in the most decisive match of the 11th round.

The Cavite-born So, now representing the United States, and Wei, the youngest player ever to breach the Elo 2700 barrier at 17, will dispute top spot and most likely the title itself on Saturday.

A win by So, 23, will give the 2016 Grand Chess Tour champion the title in the tough, all-Grandmaster event.

But a draw will revive the fading bids of Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen, Armenian Levon Aronian and Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov, all with 6.5 points.

So, with four wins against seven draws, also leads the
14-man event in performance rating with 2882, followed by Wei (2852).—ROY LUARCA