Wesley forces Ding to 58-move draw

MANILA, Philippines — Grandmaster Wesley So displayed superb endgame technique to claw his way out of a cramped position and eked out a 58-move draw with Ding Liren of China to finish tied at one apiece after their two-game standard play in the semifinals of the FIDE World Chess Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia Wednesday night.

It was the second straight draw for the second-seeded So and the 11th-ranked Ding after the two split the point in 47 moves of their Guioco Piano duel in the first game the day before.

So and Ding were playing another pair of games using rapid time control – 25 minutes each plus 10-second increment – at press time.

The winner clinches one of the two spots in the Candidates Matches while gaining a chance to lay claim of the top purse worth $120,000.

The other semis pairing pitting No. 5 Levon Aronian and No. 8 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France likewise wound up in a 1-1 deadlock after splitting their second game in just 19 moves of a Ruy Lopez.

Ding found a way to seize control of the two open central files but missed his chance of taking over the So’s weak back rank that would have given the former a winning chance.

Instead, Ding went for a safer route and emerged one pawn up in an endgame of two rooks and pawns.

So, however, masterfully found a way to draw by exchanging practically all their pieces except their own king.