Wesley, Chinese settle for draw

Individual standings after Round 8:

6.5 points---GM Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), GM Wesley Barbasa So (Philippines), GM Marcin Dziuba (Poland), GM Grzegorz Gajewski (Poland),  IM Wei Yi (China), GM Ding Liren (China)

6.0 points---GM Yu Yangyi (China),GM Anish Giri (The Netherlands),GM Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), GM Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), GM Mustafa Yilmaz (Turkey), GM Nils Grandelius (Sweden), GM Erwin L'ami (The Netherlands), GM David Navara (Czech Republic), GM Hannes Stefansson (Iceland), GM Bassem Amin (Egypt), IM Sopiko Guramishvili (Georgia)

Round 9 top board pairings:

Board 1: GM Ding Liren (China) vs GM Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine)

Board 2: GM Wesley Barbasa So (Philippines) vs GM Marcin Dziuba (Poland)

Board 3: GM Grzegorz Gajewski (Poland) vs IM Wei Yi (China)

FILIPINO Grandmaster Wesley Barbasa So (ELO 2684) held to a draw this time by GM Yu Yangyi (ELO 2688) of China and share of the lead again in the  8th round of the 28th Reykjavik Open chess championships at Harpa, the 28.000 sqm. concert hall in Reykjavik, Iceland on Tuesday.

So, 19, and Yu agreed to halve to the point after 22 moves of Ruy Lopez Opening to raise his total 6.5 points and create a six-way tie for first.

Bunched at 6.5 points are GM Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine, GM Marcin Dziuba and GM Grzegorz Gajewski of Poland, GM Ding Liren and IM Wei Yi of China.

Eljanov split the point with Gajewski after 35 moves of English Opening, Dziuba toppled GM Ivan Sokolov  of the Netherlands after 68 moves of Queens Gambit Accepted, Ding routed GM Alexander Ipatov of Turkey after 31 moves of King's Indian defense and Wei upset GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France after 33 moves of Sicilian defense, Rossolimo variation.

The Filipino champion will be facing Dziuba in the crucial ninth round of the tournament, Ding will meet Eljanov while Gajewski opposite Wei in the event which offers a prize fund of 15,000 euro with the winner taking 5,000 euro and the runner-up getting 2,000 euro.

So’s campaign is backed up by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) headed by it's Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., Secretary-General Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr. and Executive Director GM Jayson Gonzales.

The tournament serves as So’s build up for the 2013 World Chess Cup scheduled on August 10 to September 5 in Tromso, Norway. Joining So in the World Chess Cup is fellow GM Oliver Barbosa.      -Marlon Bernardino-