Rejkjavik Open: Harika, Abhijeet post wins

Tania Sachdev and Soumya Swaminathan also came out victors in a largely productive day for the Indians.

Starting with black, Harika Dronavalli took control of the game in the opening itself, forcing her opponent into a series of mistakes.

India’s Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli defeated Magnus Magnusson to begin her campaign at the Rejkjavik Open here in style on Wednesday night.

Starting with black, the World No. 11 took control of the game in the opening itself, forcing her opponent into a series of mistakes at the Herpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland late last night.

“Magnus made a number of strategic errors and I exploited them to outplay him,” the Guntur boy said after the match.

Grandmasters Abhijeet Gupta and Vidit Gujrathi also posted wins over Bergsson Stefan and Birkisson Bjorn Holm respectively. International Master Tania Sachdev and Woman Grandmaster Soumya Swaminathan also came out victors in a largely productive day for the Indians.

The tournament, which offers a prize money of €5,000 to the winner, is in its 32nd year of existence. It is a 10-round Swiss tournament with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, with a further 30 minutes added till the end of the game, with a 30-second increment from the first move.

The tournament will culminate on April 27. It has a total of 266 players from across the globe competing this year.