So shares lead with five others

Standings after Round 8: 6.5 points—GM Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), GM Wesley So (PH), GM Marcin Dziuba (Poland), GM Grzegorz Gajewski (Poland),  IM Wei Yi (China), GM Ding Liren (China); 6.0—GM Yu Yangyi (China), GM Anish Giri (The Netherlands), GM Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), GM Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), GM Mustafa Yilmaz (Turkey), GM Nils Grandelius (Sweden), GM Erwin L’ami (The Netherlands), GM David Navara (Czech Republic), GM Hannes Stefansson (Iceland), GM Bassem Amin (Egypt), IM Sopiko Guramishvili (Georgia)

FILIPINO Grandmaster Wesley So settled for a draw with Chinese GM Yu Yangyi but kept his share of the lead in the 28th Reykjavik Open chess championships in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Tuesday.

So (Elo 2684) agreed to split the point with Yu (Elo 2688) after 22 moves of a Ruy Lopez Opening to raise his total to 6.5 points and forge a six-way tie for first after eight rounds.

Bunched with So are GM Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine, GM Marcin Dziuba and GM Grzegorz Gajewski of Poland, GM Ding Liren and International Master Wei Yi of China.

Eljanov drew with Gajewski after 35 moves of an English Opening; Dziuba toppled GM Ivan Sokolov  of the Netherlands after 68 moves of a Queens Gambit Accepted;  Ding routed GM Alexander Ipatov of Turkey after 31 moves of a King’s Indian Defense; while Wei stunned GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France after 33 moves of a Sicilian, Rossolimo variation.

The 19-year-old So will be facing Dziuba in the ninth and penultimate round of the tournament staking a total purse of 15,000 euros. Ding will meet Eljanov while Gajewski will face Wei as the battle for the 5,000 euro top prize heats up.