RP's So draws with Muzychuk, places fourth

WIJK AAN ZEE, Netherlands - Almost but not enough for GM Wesley So of the Philippines. So settled for a draw with lone female participant IM Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia in the 13th and final round to finish in a tie for fourth to fifth places with GM Erwin l’Ami of the Netherlands in the 72nd Corus chess tournament at the De Moriaan Community Centre Sunday (Monday in Manila).

The 16-year-old Filipino bet drew with the lower-rated but upset-conscious Muzychuk by repetition of moves in 38 moves of the Capablanca variation of the Nimzo-Indian defense. Although he had a three-pawn advantage over Muzychuk in a double-edged queen and rook ending, So was forced to accept a draw with the white pieces since the Ukraine-born Slovenian had a strong counterplay against his queen and two connected rooks. “Its draw," said Filipino GM Buenaventura “Bong" Villamayor in his analysis for chessdom.com “Wesley was forced to accept the draw because black’s counterplay around the Ka1 would be too powerful." Overall, So finished with a 13-round total of 7.5 points on three wins, nine draws and only one loss. GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands emerged as the solo champion with nine points, followed by top seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany with 8.5 and GM Ni Hua of China with eight points. Giri, who dealt So his lone setback in the 11th round Friday, halved the point with GM Parimarjan Negi of India. Naiditsch trounced l’Ami, while Ni split the point with GM Dimitri Reinderman of the Netherlands in other final round matches. “I’m happy I won," said Giri, the 15-year old son of a Nepalese father and Russian mother. “Of course I’m happy but not exceedingly so. Let’s say I’m on cloud eight. What I’m most happy about is my place in the A Group next year." Muzychuk, who handed Giri his lone setback in the two-week long competition, finished in 10th place with 5.5 points. In the centerpiece Group A, top seed GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway topped the event with 8.5 points on five wins, seven draws and only one loss. Coached by former world champion Gary Kasparov, the 19-year-old Norwegian champion drew his final-round game with GM Fabiano Caruana of Italy in 56 moves of the Ruy Lopez. GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia drew with GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia after only 21 moves of the Queen’s Indian, while GM Alexei Shirov of Spain halved the point with GM Leinier Dominguez of Cuba to share second to third places with eight points. World champion Viswanathan Anand of India agreed to a draw with GM Loek van Wely of the Netherlands after 39 moves of a Meraner to remain the only unbeaten competitor in the tournament’s highest division. But Anand’s record of two wins and 11 draws got him no further than a shared fourth place with GM Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, who also battled to a draw with GM Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands in 79 moves of the Scandinavian. Group C title went to GM Li Chao of China. Having secured first place the day before, Li closed out the tournament with a win over Dutch women’s champion Zhaoqing Peng in 41 moves of a French Opening. He finished with 10 points, 1.5 points ahead of GM Abhijet Gupta of India. - GMANews.TV