World Chess C’ship: Harika faces tie-breaker after losing Game 2

Playing black, the fourth seeded Indian was looking to at least draw the second classical game after having won the first on Monday. But the Georgian rival came up with a gritty performance

Published : Feb 22, 2017 00:56 IST , Tehran

Harika lost the second game of the quarterfinal match.
Harika lost the second game of the quarterfinal match.
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Harika lost the second game of the quarterfinal match.

D. Harika battled hard for a much-needed draw but Nana Dzagnidze proved stronger in 67 moves in the second game of their quarterfinal clash in the Women world chess championship here.

The result left the players locked 1-1. The two will clash in the rapid tie-break games on Wednesday for a place in the semifinals.

Playing black, the fourth seeded Indian was looking to at least draw the second classical game after having won the first on Monday. But the Georgian rival came up with a gritty performance in a long battle to come out victorious in an endgame involving a rook each and pawns. Harika, who lost a pawn in the middle game, remained on the defensive thereafter and eventually fell.

Meanwhile, Chinese underdog Tan Zhongyi caused a huge upset by packing off top-seed compatriot Ju Wenjun 1.5-0.5 after winning the second game. From the bottom half of the draw, Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk, seeded two, made it past ex-champion Bulgaria’s Alexander Kosteniuk and will take on another former winner Russia’s Alexandra Kosteniuk, seeded three.

The results:

Quarterfinals:Game 2: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo, 1) bt D. Harika (1); Ju Wenjun (Chn, 0.5) lost to Tan Zhongyi (Chn, 1.5); Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul, 0.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 1.5); Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus, 1.5) bt Ni Shiqun (Chn, 0.5).

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