GRANDMASTER Wesley So tried to attack the queenside, but he still settled for a draw with Yaroslav Zherebukh in 30 moves last Sunday in the fourth round of the 2017 United States Chess Championship.
The 23-year-old Zherebukh, who is from Ukraine, managed to dispatch So’s black knight and stay in control of his backrank in the 21st move
The game equalized after both their rooks and queens kept a tight watch of their respective backranks nine moves later. As a result, the 2822 ELO-rated So kept his hold on the lead when it was over at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.
The game that stirred the crowd’s fancy, however, was that of GM Alexander Onischuk playing world no. 3 Fabiano Caruana to a draw in 90 moves of a Queen’s Pawn Game.
Attention was also set on how Varuzkhan Akobian won over GM Samuel Shankland in 58 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined.
Overall, So is now half a point ahead of Ray Robson, Zherebukh, Hikaru Nakamura and Akobian, who all have three points.
Robson won over Alexander Shabalov in 31 moves of a Robatsch, while Nakamura split his point with Daniel Naroditsky in 65 moves of a Ruy Lopez.
Akobian caught the crowd’s interest after his good knight move to e5 on the 18th push, a move that forced the black-playing Shankland to give up his bishops and develop his strategic advantage later on.
Analysts also talked about Caruana using the King’s Indian Defense, which he hardly employs in a game.
Onischuk was close to posting an upset over Caruana, who is the reigning champion. But a good rook to c5 move by Caruana saved him from defeat as he was able to play to a draw afterwards.
With the rook move, Caruana decided not to push through with his attack and instead protected his king in the ensuing play.