So,  who bagged the top junior award in this  prestigious tournament last year,  and Ghaem Maghami agreed to a truce after only 25 moves of the Caro Kann  Exchange variation.

The 16-year-old Filipino champion, who rarely settles for a draw, offered  one against the white-playing Ghaem Maghami  when the game reached a position which offers very little opportunity to exploit.

When the game was agreed drawn, both Ghaem Maghami and So have  the same number of pieces on the board: queen, two rooks, bishop and five pawns.

“It’s a draw. Wesley played well,  but so did  his Iranian rival.  It’s a good first-round game for Wesley,” said  National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay, who followed So’s game against the veteran  Iranian champion on the internet.

The draw was the fourth in five matches for So and Ghaem Maghami.

Ghaem Maghami, however, holds a 3-2 record  over So in their personal matches. The Iranian defeated  his  younger  opponent in Macau on  October, 2008.

The other  Filipino campaigner, GM Darwin Laylo,  was not as lucky, however.

Laylo, the reigning Asian Zone 3.3 champion,  bowed to  GM  Rauf Mamedov of  Azerbaijan.

The 29 th-seeded Mamedov  (ELO 2640)  beat Laylo  in only 26 moves  despite handling the black side of  the board.

In the second round, So will meet  GM Dimitry Bocharov of Russia while Laylo will play  GM Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan.

Defending champion GM Etienne Bacrot of France outduelled GM Vladimir Potkin of Russia to  lead the march of the favorites.

Also hurling their opening-day assignments were GM Alexnadr Motylev of Russia, who whipped  GM Alexander Shabalov of  the United States;   GM Bu Xiangzhi of  China, who outplayed GM Vladimir Belov of Russia; and GM  Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria, who downed GM Josep Manu Martinez of  Spain.

Top seed GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, however,  was  held to a draw by GM Zaven Andriasian of Armenia.

Also settling for half point were  fourth seed GM Gata Kamsky, who drew with GM Sanan Sjugirov  of Russia;  fifth seed GM Andrei Volokotin of Ukraine, who split the point with GM Ildar Khairullin of Russia;  sixth seed GM  Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, who halved the point with GM  Jaan Ehlvest of the United States;   seventh seed Gm Gabriel Sargissian  of Armenila, who drew with  GM Zhou Weiqi of China;  eighth seed GM Alexander  Moiseenko of  Ukraine, who drew  with GM Evgeny Romanov of Russia.

The biggest surprises  were brought  by GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov  of  Russia, who upset  GM Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia;  GM Tatiana Kosintseva, who toppled GM Sergey Volkov of Russia ; and IM Nadezhda Kosintseva, who shocked GM Farukh Amonatov of Tajikistan.

The total prize fund in the Aeroflot tournament is 70,000 euro, with the champion getting the  lion’s share of 21,000 euro, the runner-up receiving 12,000 euro and. the third placer pocketing 7,000 euro.

Cash prizes will also be given  from the fourth up to the 30th placer.

Aside from the cash prizes, the  champion will also get outright invitation to play in the  prestigious Dortmund tournament .

Last  year, So finished in a  heavy  tie for 17th to 36th places with five points on three wins,  four draws and   two losses in the   nine-round tournament  being organized  by  the  Russian Airlines Aeroflot  in  cooperation with  the Russian Chess Federation and  the  Committee on Tourism of  Moscow.

The Filipino  champion, however,  bagged the top junior award  by  finishing ahead of   fellow  world   junior  campaigners GM Eltaj  Safarli of Azerbaijan,  GM  Sanan Sjugirov of Russia and  GM  Ray Robson of  the United States.

Bacrot  and   Moiseenko shared the title.