Delhi International Open: Ilamparthi stuns Harsha; Srikanth holds Karthik

Grandmaster and National junior champion Karthik Venkataraman and GM-elect Harsha Bharathakoti found the going tough at the Delhi International Open Grandmasters chess tournament

Indian Air Force player K Srikanth who held Grandmaster Karthik Venkataraman in the opening round of Delhi International Open Grandmasters chess tournament in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Much against the trend of results, Grandmaster and National junior champion Karthik Venkataraman and GM-elect Harsha Bharathakoti found the going tough as the Delhi International Open Grandmasters
chess tournament threw up unexpected opening-round heroes here on Wednesday.

Though the top-19 seeds were among those with a point each, Karthik faced unexpected resistance from Air Force recruit K. Srikanth and eventually split the point after 72 moves. If Karthik needed any
consolation after dropping half a point, he had to only look at Harsha’s plight.

Harsha, awaiting the confirmation of his Grandmaster title, ran into the reigning National under-9 champion A. R. Ilamparthi, rated 561 points below at 1920, crashed to a 43-move defeat.

On a day when almost every overseas Grandmaster won, Uzbek Marat Dzhumaev, — a regular in Indian events for over a decade — was held by Nitish Das.

Samriddhaa Ghosh proved equal to International Master N. R. Vignesh in 41 moves following a sequence of perpetual checks.