Pinoy chesser So settles for a draw with Swedish GM

So far, so good for grandmaster Wesley So of the Philippines. So battled GM Hans Tikkanen of Sweden to a well-fought draw in the third round of the 19th Sigeman and Co. chess championship at the Classic Hipp Theater in Malmo, Sweden Saturday. The 17-year-old Filipino champion, who is still buoyed by his earth-shaking upset win over former world championship candidate GM Alexei Shirov of Spain in the second round Friday, kept the white-playing, but lower-rated Tikkanen on even terms and achieved a draw from the black side of the board The draw, which was reached after only 31 moves of the Slav, enabled So to keep a share of the lead with defending champion GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Tikkanen with two points in this short, six-player round–robin tournament being held in this popular Swedish city near the border of Milan, Italy. Giri, the Mocow-born son of a Nepalese father and a Russian mother who lives in the Dutch city of Rjswijk,, held his ground and drew his match with Shirov in 40 moves of the Bishop opening. The only other match which pitted GM Jonny Hector and World Youth bronze medalist Nils Cornelius, both of Sweden, ended in a draw after a marathon 101 moves. “It was a pretty easy draw for Black (So)," commented experts who analyzed the game live on the internet. In the fourth round, So will play white against Grandelius. Shirov will meet Tikkanen and Giri will square off against Hector in other crucial matches. The fifth and final round will be held on Monday, June 13, with So closing out his campaign with the black pieces against Hector, a 15-time participant. Tikkanen-Giri and Grandleius-Shirov round out the other matches. - RCJ/KBK, GMA News