Wesley So splits point with Mamedyarov as all Superbet matches end in draws

Wesley So and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov agreed to a draw and so did the four other pairs in a lackluster first round of the Superbet Chess Classic on Sunday, June 6 at Sheraton Bucharest in Romania. 

Still getting the feel of playing over the board again and handling black, So split the point with Mamedyarov after 46 moves of a Queen’s Gambit accepted, following the pattern of the matches between Alexander Grischuk-Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Constantin Lupulescu-Levon Aronian, and Teimour Radjabov-Fabiano Caruana.

Anish Giri went for complications against Romanian teen star Bogdan-Daniel Deac but couldn’t break through and settled for a 47-move draw of a Semi-Slav to complete the silent return of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) which got canceled last year to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, the reigning United States champion, will try to liven up matters when he tangles with new Team USA member Levon Aronian in round 2 on Monday, June 7.

Other matches pit Caruana against Lupulescu, Giri against Radjabov, Mamedyarov against Grischuk, and Vachier-Lagrave against Deac, a late replacement for Richard Rapport in the elite 10-man roster.

Caruana, the world No. 2 who handles board 1 for Team USA, is the top seed in the $325,000 (P15.6 million) event serving as the opening leg of the country-hopping GCT with So only ranked joint fifth with Mamedyarov.

Owing to So’s consistent showing in the Champions Chess Tour, where he is No. 2 overall behind world champion Magnus Carlsen after six events, the Filipino-American is regarded as a strong title contender in the round-robin Superbet Tournament. – Rappler.com