WHILE Filipino grandmaster Wesley So played to another draw, Ukranian-American GM Yaroslav Zherebukh pulled off a surprise in the seventh round of the 2017 United States Chess Championship.
As So settled for a draw with Ray Robson in 54 moves of an English Opening, he found himself sharing the lead with Zherebukh when matches ended Wednesday
The 23-year old Zherebukh, playing a bookline game for most of the encounter, upset world no. 3 Fabiano Caruana, causing a stir at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.
Caruana, the defending champion, found his king and queen trapped at kingside when he gave up in 51 moves of a Ruy Lopez Opening.
So and Zherebukh now share the top spot with 4.5 points.
Both are half a point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian, who share second with four points.
According to analysis, So was on the offensive, and managed to check the king with a queen f5 move. But a repetition of moves allowed Robson to escape defeat.
On the other hand, Zherebukh opened with a the aggressive lines of the e4 move.
And when Caruana committed mistakes starting with the knight h7 on the 23rd. Zherebukh gained the initiative and took control of the f4 square with a bishop and pawn exchange.
From there, Zherebukh started advancing and his rooks and queen started pressuring the kingside.
Caruana quit when Zherebukh threatened to gobble up a pawn or the queen with his rook f6 move.