JOIN USHaving lost the first three games, it was important for Parimarjan to stage a recovery of sorts and with five rounds still to come in the category-17 tournament the Indian can look up to an improved finish.
Meanwhile, Wesley remained on top of the tables inching himself up to three points out of a possible four on a day that produced just one decisive result.
After beating David Howell of England, Dmitry Andreikin of Russia joined compatriot Evgeny Tomashevsky and Fabiano Caruana of Italy in second spot on 2.5 points.
A pack of four - Anish Giri of Holland, top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Maxim Rodshtein of Israel and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam -- are now joint fifth on a fifty percent score.
David Howell stands sole ninth in the 10-players field while Parimarjan is still at the bottom with half point.
The fourth round saw Parimarjan regaining confidence before it was too late. The Indian had an enviable position as black after the opening in the first two rounds but ended up on the receiving end following blunders.
Against Wesley So, Parimarjan had resolved it would not happen. Playing the black side of a Queen's Gambit declined, Parimarjan embarked on the age-old Tartakower variation as black and So could do little except maintaining the balance.
After heaps of exchanges in the middle game the players arrived a rook endgame fairly quickly and the game was drawn in just 28 moves.
Andreikin showcased his deep opening preparation to outwit Howell who appeared clueless as one after the other white piece dented his position from a Grunfeld fianchetto variation.
The invasion of two rooks on the seventh rank is a rare sight in contemporary chess these days and Andreikin achieved it within 25 moves to script a crushing victory in 36 moves.
Anish Giri and Vachier-Lagrave were involved in a tame drawn arising out of a King’s Indian defense game. Playing white, Giri went for the Classical variation and a lot of routine manoeuvring followed.
The complications were still in place when both players decided against taking any risk and split the point on the 43rd move.
In the shortest game of the day Evgeny Tomashevsky showed his peaceful intentions with white pieces against Caruana. The Semi Slav by the latter denied any advantage to Tomashevsky who proposed the draw after just 21 moves.
Truong Son faced the London System against Rodshtein and another draw was reached after a complicated game lasting 36 moves.
The results round 4: Wesley So (Phi, 3) drew with Parimarjan Negi (Ind, 0.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 2) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2); Dmitry Andreikin (Rus, 2.5) beat David Howell (Eng, 1); Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus, 2.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 2.5); Mguyen Mgoc Truong Son (Vie, 2) drew with Maxim Rodshtein (Isr, 2).