Harika shares spoils in round two of chess tourney

Malmo, May 12: Indian Grand Master Harika Drovalli settled for an enthralling draw against Swedish Grand Master Nils Grandelius in the second round of the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess tourment here.

The World No.10 Indian, playing with black pieces on Thursday, displayed her mettle and fought back with all her grit as her Swedish counterpart chose an unexpected line of play,

“My opponent surprised me by choosing a line which he never played and I was out of book by move five. But he slipped by playing some iccurate moves which gave me a slightly better position with double bishops,” Harika said after the match.

The Guntur lass gave away the advantage, but capitalised on Nils’ blunder in the dying moments of the game to salvage a draw.

With two draws in her two games, the Indian retained her fifth position on the standings with one point. Harika will now take on Erik Blomqvist, another local favourite, in her round three game at the Hipp Theater here. IANS