Indias young Grand Master Harika Dronavalli put up a spirited fight against Englands Michael Adams but couldnt avert her first defeat in a late night game in the Isle of Man International Chess tournament here.
World No.10 Harika, seeded 36th in this tournament, couldn't keep up with the fourth-seeded Adams and threw in the towel when the game started slipping out of her fingers here late on Monday night.
She has played three games so far, extracting a win and a draw in her first two rounds.
Harika accepted the loss gracefully, pointing out that Adams is a top flight player. 'He is a big gun. I started off with some decent moves but Adams countered me well and outplayed me slowly,' she conceded.
The Indian GM will next play Germany's Thomas Paehtz, who comes in with a draw against India's GM Aravindh Chithambaram in the earlier round.
--IANS
ajb/dg
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