ON his sixth major encounter with Varuzhan Akobian, Grandmaster Wesley So was under time pressure.
But he still managed to play Akobian to a draw in 45 moves last Tuesday in the sixth round of the 2017 United States Chess Championship.
It was their fourth draw in six encounters since their storied rivalry began in 2009.
And it was over when Akobian started making a series of repetitive moves with his queen in the 41st move.
The 2822 ELO-rated So kept his grip on the solo lead with four points when it was over at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.
The draw came as world no. 3 Fabiano Caruana moved up with a share of second spot behind So.
Caruana, who played one of the day’s two interesting matches, turned back Gata Kamsky in 40 moves of a Sicilian Defense.
He now shares 3.5 points with Akobian, Daniel Naroditsky and Hikaru Nakamura.
The white-playing So managed to equalize his position after Akobian made a knight f2 move to check the king.
Experts said Akobian was better off with a queen g6 that would have allowed him to dominate the kingside. Instead, Akobian was able to go into a series of checks, with So settling for a draw off his rivals’ repetitions.
According to analysts, So unravelled a very sharp line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined and was surprised when Akobian made a good bishop g4 push. This quickly gave Akobian the initiative and forced So on the defensive.