Cautious So still shows way with draw

Standings after four rounds:

3 points—W. So (RP); 2.5—E. Tomashevsky (Russia), F. Caruana (Italy), D. Andreikin (Russia); 2.0—M. Vachier-Lagrave (France), A. Giri (Netherlands), N.N. ,Truong Son (Vietnam), M. Rodshtein (Israel); 1.0—D. Howell (England); 0.5—P. Negi (India)

BIEL, SWITZERLAND—Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So played cautiously with white and settled for a draw with GM Parimarjan Negi of India to keep the lead after four rounds of the 2010 Biel Young Grandmasters chess championship Thursday.

So and Negi, the two youngest participants in the 10-player, category-17 tournament, agreed to split the point after only 28 moves of the Queen’s Gambit Declined.

The Filipino ace remained on top with three points, half a point ahead of second seed GM Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia, third seed GM Fabiano Caruna of Italy and sixth seed Dmitry Andreikin of Russia.

Tomashevsky and Caruana drew their match while Andreikin subdued GM David Howell of England in the other notable fourth-round encounters to stay within striking distance of the fourth-seeded Filipino campaigner from Bacoor, Cavite.

Negi, who became the world’s second youngest GM of all-time at 13 years, three months and 22 days, finally ended a three-game losing skid with the draw with So.

So was scheduled to meet Caruana in the fifth round on Friday, He then faces Tomashevsky in Saturday’s sixth round before the tournament takes a break on Sunday.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay said the rest of the field now “know they have to beat Wesley to win the title, and they’re playing him with a lot of respect.”

So opened with the d4, but Negi responded with the Orthodox Defense of the Queen’s Gambit by declining white’s temporary pawn sacrifice.

Experts said Negi’s opening is one of the most reliable defenses to d4 since it gives black a solid position and a foothold in the center. But a series of exchanges of the major pieces followed and left both players with one rook and five pawns each.

Seeing little prospects in the almost identical position, So agreed to a draw without making his 29th move.