Wesley settles for draw

KHANTY-Mansiysk, Russia – GM Wesley So failed to shake off a tough defending GM Vladimir Malakhov of Russia and settled for a draw in the opener of their two-game, Last 16 showdown in the 2009 World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts here Monday.

The white-playing So gave the 22nd-ranked Malakhov (2706) some uneasy moments in a highly positional battle and seemed to challenge his Russian rival’s tenacity before settling for the draw in 65 moves of the Slav.

The 16-year-old Filipino champion, who beat GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, former world championship finalist GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and defending champion GM Gata Kamsky of the United States in the previous rounds, ended up with a slightly better position but with no clear winning line against Malakhov’s tenacious defense.

“It’s a draw,” said GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., now serving as one of So’s seconds following his and fellow GM Darwin Laylo’s ouster in the first round.

Before they halved the point, So and Malakhov exchanged their remaining pieces of a knight and four pawns against a bishop and four pawns and were left with one rook each.

So and Malakhov, a two-time world championship finalist in 2004 and 2007, switch colors in Game Two with the Filipino bet hoping to duplicate his victories with the black over Ivanchuk and Kamsky.

The winner of the So-Malakhov encounter will meet the victor of the GM Peter Svidler of Russia- and last year’s World Cup runner-up GM Alexei Shirov of Spain duel in the quarterfinal round.

Svidler, the third highest-rated player here with 2754 rating, subdued Shirov to emerge as one of only two winners in the elite round-of-16 stage.

Svidler, coming off a big 5-3 win over GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany in the previous round, came through with what they described as “a dozen of superhuman, almost computer-like moves” to repel Shirov’s aggressive and decisive attacks.

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan made short work of GM Victor Laznicka of the Czech Republic to boost his quarterfinal bid.