So remains at No.7

FILIPINO Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So settled for another draw in the fifth round to stay at No. 7 in the prestigious 2018 Candidates Tournament being held at the Kuhlhaus Berlin in Berlin, Germany.

So agreed to a draw with top seed GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to raise his output to 1.5 points.

It was So’s third straight draw after splitting the point with GM Ding Liren of China in the third round and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the fourth round.

The 24-year old So needs to score victories in his next matches to catch up with tournament leaders including topnotcher GM Fabiano Caruana of the US, who has so far collected 3.5 points.

Kramnik and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan are sharing the second place with three points each while Ding, GM Levon Aronian of Armenia and GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia are in a three-way tie for fourth with 2.5 points each.

In the sixth round, So takes on Aronian, Caruana battles Grischuk, Ding faces Gm Sergey Karjakin of Russia, and Kramnik tackles Mamedyarov in the event which offers 95,000 Euros to the champion and 88,000 Euros to the runner-up.

After the sixth round, the tourney will take a one-day rest. So will resume his campaign in the seventh round against Karjakin.

He is also scheduled to play Caruana in the eighth round, Grischuk in the ninth round, Ding in the 10th round, Mamedyarov in the 11th round, Kramnik in the 12th round, Karjakin in the 13th round and Aronian in the final round.