Wesley So draws anew; Nakamura, Aronian, Dominguez pace groups

MANILA, Philippines – Back-to-back United States champion Wesley So settled for another draw even as fellow Team USA members Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, and Leiner Dominguez gained top spots in their respective groups after the second round of the FIDE Berlin Grand Prix on Saturday, February 5 (Sunday, February 6, Philippine time) at the World Chess Club Berlin.

So drew with India’s Pentala Harikrishna after 49 moves of a Ruy Lopez to trail Dominguez, who beat Russian Alexei Shirov, in the tough Pool D of the 16-man, all-Grandmaster event serving as the first of three legs of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix Series.

Dominguez, who drew with So in Friday’s inaugurals, climbed to 1.5 points, towing So and Harikrishna, both with 1.0 point, and Shirov (0.5).

Proving he can still excel in classical chess after concentrating on speed chess the last two years, Nakamura trounced Russian Andrey Esipenko to pace Pool A with 1.5  points. Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Etienne Bacrot of France drew their match for 1.0 point each while Esipenko remained at 0.5.

Aronian, the longtime Armenian No. 1 who is playing as an American for the first time, agreed to a truce with Russian Daniil Dubov for 1.5 points in Pool C. Dubov was at 1.0 point with German Vincent Keymer, who drew with Indian Vidit Gujrathi (0.5).

Poland’s Radoslaw Wojtaszek drew with Russia’s Grigoriy Oparin to keep the lead in Pool B with 1.5 points. Hungarian Richard Rapport bested Russian Vladimir Fedoseev to tie his victim at 1.0 point. Oparin got mired at 0.5.

The Filipino-born So will try to catch up with Dominguez when he tangles with Shirov in the third round on Sunday.

Only the top performers after a double round-robin in each pool will advance to the knockout semifinals and finals.

Both finalists will qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Madrid, Spain, in June to determine reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen’s next challenger. – Rappler.com