Chessable Masters tournament: Adhiban and Harikrishna keep qualification chances alive; Humpy struggles

After five rounds of the round-robin phase in the 16-player field, Adhiban (3 points), Harikrishna (2.5) and Humpy (1) had their task cut out for the remaining 10 rounds.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: After five rounds of play, Adhiban (3 points), Harikrishna (2.5) and Humpy (1) has a difficult task ahead of them for the remaining 10 rounds.

B. Adhiban and P. Harikrishna kept alive their chances of qualifying to the quarterfinals but K. Humpy found the going tough on the opening day of the $100,000 Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament on Saturday.

After five rounds of the round-robin phase in the 16-player field, Adhiban (3 points), Harikrishna (2.5) and Humpy (1) had their task cut out for the remaining 10 rounds.

The results (involving Indians)

Fifth round: B. Adhiban drew with P. Harikrishna; K. Humpy drew with Abhimanyu Mishra (USA). Fourth round :Vladislav Artemiev (Rus) bt Adhiban; Harikrishna drew with Shakhariyar Mamedyarov (Aze); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) drew with Humpy. Third round: Adhiban drew with Ju Wenjun (Chn); Le Quang Liem (Vie) drew with Harikrishna; Humpy lost to David Anton (Esp). Second round: Eduardo Iturrizaga (Esp) lost to Adhiban; Harikrishna bt Humpy; First round: Adhiban bt Aryan Tari (Nor); Nakamura bt Harikrishna; Humpy lost to Artemiev. Standings (after five rounds): 1. Wesley So (USA, 4), 2-4. Vladislav Artemiev (Rus), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Firouza Alireza (Fra) (3.5 each); 5-9. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze), David Anton (Esp), Le Quang Liem (Vie), Jorden van Foreest (Ned), B. Adhiban (3 each), 10-11. Levon Aronian (Arm), P. Harikrishna (2.5 each); 12-13. Aryan Tari (Nor), Eduardo Iturriaza (Esp), 14-15. Ju Wenjun (Chn), K. Humpy (1 each), 16. Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 0.5).