Harika in hunt for knockout berth

Grand Master Harika Dronavalli, the lone Indian representative at the prestigious 14th Anatoly Karpov rapid international chess tournament at Cap d’Agde in France, had a mixed bag on Tuesday, winning a complex game against Spain’s Sabrina Vega Gutierrez and drawing against local favourite Matthieu Cornette on Day Five of the event.

In her earlier battles with the same players, the Guntur lass had beaten Vega Gutierrez and only managed a draw against Cornette. She has played 10 games so far and has kept herself in contention by picking up crucial points.

“In the first game, I found myself in an unclear set-up. My opponent Sabrina opened her game with a French defence and I had to take some risks in the complex battle. I won a pawn in the middle game and outplayed her slowly,” Harika said.

“I was finally able to convert it into a point later on. In the second game, I opened with white pieces but made a mistake in the opening and found myself in an uncomfortable position. So when

“I got the opportunity at the midway stage, I repeated my moves and forced a draw.”

With four more games to go in the tournament, Harika is confident of qualifying for the knockout stages. She is fifth in the league table.

Harika next takes on Ukrainian world no. 3 and fifth seed Anna Muzychuk and fourth seeded French GM Romain Edouard.