ISLE OF MAN: India’s Harika Dronavalli defeated world No 1 Hou Yifan to be at joint fourth position in the Isle of Man international chess tournament here.
Harika was at her best as she manoeuvred past a determined Yifan to pull off her fourth win in the championship.
The captivating 45-move game slowly started devolving the Indian grandmaster’s way and she held on to her nerve for her first ever victory over the Chinese star.
Indian GM Vishwanathan Anand was quick to congratulate Harika for her morale-boosting win. “Nice to see Harika do well against Hou. She is holding her own against string GM (sic) quite impressively,” he tweeted.
Harika is now sitting pretty with five points after seven rounds, just one and a half points behind the championship leader Eljanov Pavel of Ukraine.
The world No 6, with an Elo rating of 2542, was delighted after her big win and said: “We began with an unusual opening and right from move number four we were coursing through uncharted territory.
“Just as we approached the mid-game, I found myself in a slightly better position strategically. I held on to it doggedly and converted it into a point,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}“Just as we approached the mid-game, I found myself in a slightly better position strategically. I held on to it doggedly and converted it into a point,” she added.
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