So stays in hunt with 2 draws in Universiade

Standings after six rounds (Men)

5 points – Li Chao (China), Ma Qun (China)

4.5 – V. Onischuk (Ukraine),  Z. Andriasian (Amenia), W. So (Philippines),  R. Hovhannisyan (Armenia), Z. Jianchao (China),   G. Margvelashvili (Georgia),  F. Perez (Argentina), E. Alekseev (Russia),  M. Matlakov (Russia), B. Amin (Egypt)

KAZAN, Russia – GM Wesley So of the Philippines played cautiously against a pair of dangerous Chinese GMs, scoring back-to-back draws to stay in the thick of the fight halfway through the 27th Summer Universiade chess competitions at the Kazan Equestrian Complex here Friday.

So agreed to a draw with GM Zhou Jianchao after only 11 moves of the Gruenfeld in the fifth round and split the point with GM Ma Qun in 31 moves of the Exchange Slav in the following round.

Seeing no need to take unnecessary risks in an almost even position against his equally talented Chinese opponents, So agreed to split the point – first with Jianchao then with Ma – before the tournament takes a one-day break.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, represented by nine-time Cebu champion University of the Visayas, bowed to Mexico, 67-139, for a closing 0-5 record in basketball.

“The teams here are really very strong. In Group B alone, Serbia and the four other teams simply outmuscled our players,” said Phl coach Felix Belano.

The Filipinos were earlier clobbered by two-time champion Serbia, 44-125, by Romania, 58-106, Japan, 51-93, and Mongolia, 79-92.

“It’s really drawish. It’s hard to force things,” said So, who is scheduled to meet reigning world junior champion GM Alexander Ipatov of Turkey in the World Cup in Tromso, Norway on Aug. 10-Sept. 3.

“Let’s see what happens in the next three rounds,” added So, whose campaign in the Universiade is being supported by the Federation of School Sports Associaiton of the Philippines (FESSAP), headed by sports patron David Ong, and sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, Agri-Nurture, Inc. (ANI), Bestank, Healthy Options and Cobra Energy Drinks.

So has three wins and three draws for 4.5 points, half a point behind defending champion Li Chao of China and Ma with still three rounds left in the nine-round competition which attracted 24 GMs and 19 IMs from 47 countries.

So, one of three players here with a plus ELO 2700 rating, is tied with nine other players.

Zhou, the 25-year-old campaigner from Shanghai who became a GM in 2005, offered the draw to So right after making his 11th move.

So’s seventh-round opponent will be GM Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia.

Hovhannisyan (Elo 2620) drew with GM Girgi Margvelashvii of Georgia in the sixth round.

Davao champion Mary Israel Palero was not as lucky in the women’s division, losing to FM Camille de Seroux of Switzerland in 42 moves of the Caro Kann in the fifth round then bowing to Merjen Yalkanova of Turkmenistan in the sixth round to remain with two points on one win, two draws and three losses.

The 20-year-old campaigner from Holy Cross of Davao College will meet Nuriza Otorbaeva of Kyrgyzstan in the seventh round.