Sunday, 09 August 2026 · Philippines
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Wesley So settles for another draw in round 3; remains tied on top

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Canelo Demands 0 Million for Crawford Rematch
Canelo Demands 0 Million for Crawford Rematch
By Dong Secuya

When fight figures cross into nine-digit guarantees, the conversation usually turns cynica…

Round 4: at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Wed 15th Jan: Giri-So, Gelfand-Naiditsch, Aronian-Nakamura, Karjakin-Rapport, Dominguez-Caruana, Van Wely-Harikrishna.

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino Grandmaster Wesley So (Elo 2656) settled for a draw with German GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2737) in the third round of the super-tough Category A of the 76th Tata Steel Tournament Masters in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands on Monday (Tuesday morning in Manila time).

So, the 20-year-old finance business sophomore at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, the top player of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. and Secretary-General Cavite Rep. Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr., agreed to a draw after 35 moves of Ruy Lopez Berlin using the black pieces to tally 2.0 points on account of two draws and a win in three outings.

When both players agreed to a draw, Naiditsch has five pawns and a black bishop while So also has four pawns and a white bishop.

The Bacoor, Cavite native, however, remained on top along with top seed GM Levon Aronian of Armenia (2803), GM Pentala Harikrishna of India (2708), GM Fabiano Caruana of Italy (2782), GM Hikaru Nakamura of the USA (2789) and GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands (2737).

Aronian drew with GM Richard Rapport (ELO 2691) of Hungrary after 41 moves of Trompowsky Opening; Harikrishna defeated GM Leinier Dominguez of Cuba (2754) after 75 moves of Sicilian Najdorf; Caruana nipped GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia (2756) after 71 moves of Catalan Opening and Nakamura split the point with GM Boris Gelfand of Israel (2777) after 59 moves of English Symmetrical. GM Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands (2678), meantime halved the point with GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands (2737) after 30 moves of Trompowsky Opening.

Rest day on Tuesday (Wednesday morning in Manila time). -Marlon Bernardino-

Columns
Canelo Demands $100 Million for Crawford Rematch
Canelo Demands $100 Million for Crawford Rematch
By Dong Secuya

When fight figures cross into nine-digit guarantees, the conversation usually turns cynica…

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