So draws Hungarian, ends up joint third

MANILA, Philippines - GM Wesley So drew with top seed GM Zoltan Almasi of Hungary and finished tied for third in the SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Group A tournament at the Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas Monday.

So and Almasi tried to outwit each other in a double-edged Four Knights Kingside Fianchetto variation of the English Opening before agreeing to halve the point after 41 moves.

The 17-year-old Filipino champion, set to make his debut in the Asian Games chess competition in Guangzhou, China later this week, enjoyed a slight initiative against the higher-rated Almasi but failed to translate the advantage into a winning attack.

Both players wound up with 14 points.

GM Alexander Onsichuk of the US outduelled GM Ray Robson to snatch the crown from erstwhile leader Georg Meier of Germany.

Onischuk finished with a 10-round total of 18 points while Meier wound up with a 17 after a draw with GM Eugene Perelshteyn of the US.