Harika shares spoils in round two of chess tourney

Indian Grand Master Harika Dronavalli settled for an enthralling draw against Swedish Grand Master Nils Grandelius in the second round of the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess tournament here.

The World No.10 Indian, playing with black pieces on Thursday, displayed her mettle and fought back with all her grit as her Swedish counterpart chose an unexpected line of play,

"My opponent surprised me by choosing a line which he never played and I was out of book by move five. But he slipped by playing some inaccurate moves which gave me a slightly better position with double bishops," Harika said after the match.

The Guntur lass gave away the advantage, but capitalised on Nils' blunder in the dying moments of the game to salvage a draw.

"I got less time in 40 moves time control and the position got equalized. But white made a huge mistake which gave me a clear winning position, but due to severe time trouble I couldn't make use of it and the game ended in a draw," Harika added.

With two draws in her two games, the Indian retained her fifth position on the standings with one point.

Harika will now take on Erik Blomqvist, another local favourite, in her round three game at the Hipp Theater here.

--IANS

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