Kolkata: Indian grandmaster Dronavalli Harika once again proved her mettle by securing victory in a tense tie-breaker to enter the semi-final of the Women’s World Chess Championships in Tehran after beating Georgia’s Nana Dzagnidze on Thursday. The 26-year-old has entered this stage of the competition twice before. Harika was back to her best in the rapid games as she won the first game using some fantastic technique and then went on to draw the second game to set up a semi-final clash against the current 9th seed, Tan Zhongyi of China. Zhongyi stunned top seed and compatriot Ju Wenjun in the previous round.
Harika, has won every single game in the tournament in the tie-break and it yet again aided her progress. Against Dzagnidze, she again stretched to a tie-break after the Indian suffered a setback as she lost in a tough 76-move encounter and consequently lost a full point lead to the Georgian international.
In the first tie break, Harika got the better of Dzagnidze in an enervating 70 move encounter. In the second tie-break, Harika held her nerve in a tough 71 move battle as she drew the game and progressed to the semi-final.
In the tournament, Harika beat Bangladeshi Shamima Akter Liza first round before going on to get the better of Dinara Saduakassova, and Kazakhstan’s Sopiko Guramishvili in the previous round.
Harika has the chance to become the first Indian woman Grand Master to win the World Chess Championship. The closest India have come close to producing a woman world champion was Koneru Humpy in 2011 when she battled it out against World No.1 Hou Yifan from China but lost the 10 game encounter.
Harika is now guaranteed of at least a bronze medal, but Harika’s game plan has looked solid. Her strategy of conserving her energy in classical battles and finishing off her opponents in the rapids has paid her dividends. The faster version of the game is where she excels and she has used it to her advantage.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)