WESLEY So blitzed his way to his sixth draw in eight games in the eighth round of the 2017 United States Chess Championship.
So is still in the lead, but he no longer shares it with Yaroslav Zherebukh when action ended on Thursday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.
When So hurriedly played his way to a draw with Hikaru Nakamura, GM Varuzhan Akobian toppled Zherebukh to grab a share of the lead with the Filipino GM.
So had a one-knight advantage when he hurriedly played Nakamura to a draw in 30 moves
The white-playing So employed the Queen’s Pawn Game against Nakamura, who countered with the main line of the Closed Catalan Game, according to analysts.
But neither had a clear advantage after So managed to fend off Nakamura’s rook attack at his backrank.
The 2822 ELO-rated So now has five points in the lead with Akobian.
The 33-year-old Akobian pounced on two dubious rook moves by Zherebukh to win in 28 moves of the Tarrasch Variation of the French Defense.
Zherebukh’s bad rook moves allowed Akobian to pressure the center of his foe’s backrank.
Zherebukh dropped to second spot with 4.5 points.
He is now in the company of Nakamura, Alexander Onischuk and defending champion Fabiano Caruana.
Caruana turned back Daniel Naroditsky in 29 moves of a French Defense, while Onischuk repulsed Ray Robson in 65 moves of a Gruenfeld Defense.