Harikrishna beats Studer in Round 4 of Biel Chess Festival

Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna bounced back from successive draws to pick up a convincing win over local star Noel Studer in the fourth round of the Biel Chess Festival.

The World No.20 Indian, playing with white pieces here on Thursday, started on a dominating note and took the attack to his opponent from the start.

He seemed to be in a hurry to wrap up the proceedings and his aggressive game caught the Swiss player off-guard who wilted under pressure to concede the game in a mere 24 moves.

"I had prepared an interesting idea in French defence and my pawn gambit on the 20th move brought me into an advantageous position and complicated the game for my opponent," the 31-year-old from Guntur said after the game.

The win not only was Harikrishna's first in the campaign but also saw him retain the joint second position with a total of two-and-half points.

He will be now up against Hungarian Grand Master Peter Leko in the fifth round of this single round-robin tournament.

--IANS

gau/dg