So still leads US Open after draw

World No. 2 Wesley So settled for a draw with Varuzhan Akobian in the sixth round Tuesday but kept the solo lead in the 2017 US Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Cavite-born So raised his total to 4.0 points, half a point ahead of Akobian, Daniel Naroditsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Yaroslav Zherebukh in the 11-round all-Grandmaster tournament.

Caruana trounced Gata Kamsky to catch up with Naroditsky and Nakamura, who were held to draws by GM Jeffery Xiong and GM Alexander Shabalov, respectively.

Zherebukh also agreed to a truce with Alexander Onischuk while Samuel Shankland stunned Ray Robson in other sixth round results. —ROY LUARCA