Zherebukh, So share US championships lead

Chess grandmaster Wesley So FACEBOOK PHOTO

Another draw proved costly for top seed Wesley So Wednesday as Yaroslav Zherebukh caught him atop the 2017 US Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.

Zherebukh, ranked 11 in the 12-man field, stunned second-ranked Fabiano Caruana in the seventh round and boosted his total to 4.5 points, the same as So, who agreed to a truce with fellow Baku Olympian Ray Robson.

It was the day of the underdogs as Alexander Shabalov, the lowest rated among the Grandmasters with an Elo of 2556, bested Jeffery Xiong (2674).

Gata Kamsky joined the gainers with a victory over Daniel Naroditsky.

Varuzhan Akobian drew with Alexander Onischuk to climb to 4.0 points with four-time US Open champion Hiraku Nakamura, who split the point with Samuel Shankland. —ROY LUARCA