Top Filipino GM Wesley So stunned third seed GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia to grab a share of the lead with seven others in the third round of the Dubai Open at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE Wednesday.
So, who recently wrested the top ranking in RP chess following solid campaigns late last year and early this season, won with the black pieces to post the biggest win so far in the tournament also known as the Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup.
The win enabled So to join the likes of GM Abhijeet Gupta of India, GM Yuri Drozdovskij of Ukraine, GM Ahmed Adly of Egypt, GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan, GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, FM Saleh Salem of United Arab Emirates and Zhou Weiqi of China in the lead with three points.
So guns for his fourth win in a row against Adly, the reigning world junior champion, who beat GM RB Ramesh of India in the third round.
Meanwhile, IM Julio Catalino Sadorra drew with No.10 GM Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia to raise his total to 2.5 points for a share of ninth place. He faces No.8 GM Li Chao of China in the fourth round.