So makes gutsy stand, forces draw

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Wesley So blew a pawn advantage and battled his way from a losing position to escape with a draw against German Arkadij Naiditsch to cling to a share of the lead with five others after three rounds of the 76th Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands Monday night.

Playing black and employing the Berlin line of the Ruy Lopez, So went one pawn up after their opening skirmish but struggled trying to defend a virtually exposed king.

Naiditsch pounced on that chance and broke through So’s defense with a pseudo knight sacrifice that saw him gain a pawn advantage while leaving the Filipino with four scattered pawns and a slightly weaker position.

But So, who beat Hungarian Richard Rapport and drew with second pick American Hikaru Nakamura in the first two rounds, found a way to neutralize Naiditsch’s attack, forcing the latter to agree to a draw on the 35th in an opposite-colored bishops endgame.

So, 20, thus kept his spot at the helm with two points alongside top seed and world No. 2 Levon Aronian of Armenia, No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura of the US, No. 3 Fabiano Caruana of Italy, Pentala Harikrishna of India and Dutch teener Anish Giri.

Aronian drew with Rapport in 41 moves of their Irregular Opening; Caruana waylaid a passive Sergey Kariakin of Russia in 71 moves of their Queen’s Pawn Game; Harikrishna dismantled Cuban Leinier Dominguez Perez’s Sicilian Defense in 75 moves; Giri halved the point with countryman Loek Van Wely; and Nakamura escaped with a 59-move standoff with Israeli emigre Boris Gelfand in their English duel.

The 11-round, Category 20 (2743 average rating), 17-day event, known before as Corus at Hoogovens, takes a break Tuesday with So facing off with Giri, the youngest participant at 19, in the fourth round Wednesday.