Grand Master Harika registers third win at Reykjavik Open

Indian Grand Master Harika Dronavalli continued her good run at the Reykjavik Open chess tournament as she got past Martin P. Burrows of England in the fourth round game at the Herpa Concert Hall here.

With three wins and one draw in four outings, the World No.11 Indian has amassed a total of 3.5 points.

Playing in white pieces, Harika approached the game with a different strategy to catch her opponent who has a lower ranking, off-guard from the early stages and capitalised on her opponent's errors to wrap up the three-hour long tie in 30 moves on Friday night.

"I had chosen a side line from the opening stages of the game which my opponent was not aware of. This strategy baffled him and he started playing over the board," Harika said after the game.

"Even though the game lasted for three hours, my opponent found it hard to catch up to my strategy and made positional errors in inferior positions which I exploited and won the game," she added.

She is currently placed 13th on the leader board and will play her fifth-round game later on Saturday.

--IANS

tri/bg