PHILIPPINE-BORN Wesley So of the United States fought former world title challenger Alexei Shirov of Spain to 31-move draw of a Ruy Lopez of Berlin to move on the verge of claiming a semifinals seat in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday night.
Like in the usual Berlin Defense set up with black, Mr. So gave a up a central pawn but found a way to turn it to an opposite-colored bishops ending, which ended in a three-fold repetition for the split.
This kept Mr. So at the helm of Pool D with 3.5 points but allowed fellow American Leinier Dominguez Perez to cut the former’s one-point lead to just half a point after the latter turned back India’s Pentala Harikrishna in 51 moves of a Sicilian Alapin.
So, the world Fischer-Random king and two-time US champion, will have a chance to book an automatic semis berth with a triumph over Mr. Harikrishna in the sixth and final round of the group stages at press time.
But if Mr. So and Dominguez Perez, who was battling Mr. Shirov, wound up at tied, the two will play tie-break matches to decide who is advancing to the knockout phase of this series staking two slots to the Candidates Tournament 2022 set June 16-July 7 in Madrid, Spain where the winner will get the chance to battle Magnus Carlsen for the world standard crown.
And Mr. So hopes he’s the one. — Joey Villar
