MANILA, Philippines – Grandmaster Wesley So drew with Russian GM Sergey Karjakin in 44 moves of a Bogo-Indian duel and fell to joint second with Chinese GM Ding Liren and behind American GM Fabiano Caruana after three rounds of Tata Steel Masters Chess 2016 in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands Monday night.
After escaping with a draw against reigning women's world champion GM Hou Yifan of China the round before, So eked out another one after failing to cash in on a pawn advantage in a rook-and-pawn ending.
So, who beat Dutch GM Anish Giri in the opening round Saturday, now has two points, the same score by Ding, who halved the point with Hou in 37 moves of the Queen's Gambit Accepted.
The United States' GM Fabiano Caruana grabbed the solo lead with 2.5 points after trouncing English GM Michael Adams in 64 moves of a Nimzo-Indian Defense.
So and Ding face off in the fourth round for a chance to catch up with Caruana.