of play GM Murali Karthikeyan tied for the first place
with Chilean IM Cristobal Henriquez and was second
on the tie break.
14-year-old Iniyan P was the impressive Indian player
in the array, as he came off successfully with a maiden
IM Norm. He defeated GM Shyam Sunder M. in the
8th round. He finished sixth after drawing his final
round game against Armenian GM Grigoryan Karen .
Coutesy: chessbaseindia.com
Harika, Humpy Finish 1-2 In FIDE Grand Prix At Chengdu
By Arvind Aaron
In the final round, while leader Dronavalli Harika drew
Russia’s Olga Girya, Koneru Humpy caught up on points
defeating former world women’s champion Antoaneta
Stefanova of Bulgaria.
Harika and Humpy tied for the first place with seven
points from eleven games in the 12-player event that
concluded at Chengdu in China on July 14, 2016. The
tie-break favoured Harika. Both players finished one
point clear of the other rivals.
Harika’s biggest triumph since entering the semifinals
of the World Women’s Chess Championship at Ukraine
last year. She takes home Euro 10,000. Harika played
it safe in the final round despite having an extra pawn
GM Dronavalli Harika
in an opposite colour bishop ending. She offered and
got a draw despite having a three to one pawn majority on the queen side.
Humpy promoted a second queen and that crushed Stefanova in 65 moves in the final round.
Harika remained the only undefeated player of the meet
and Humpy scored the most (five) wins of the competition.
It is a huge achievement for the Indian duo.
Final placings (tie-break order): 1-2. D Harika, Koneru
Humpy (both Ind) 7/11 each; 3-5. Ju Wenjun (Chn), A
Stefanova (Bul), Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) 6 each; 6-8. Bela
Khotenashvili (Geo), Zhao Xue (Chn), Mariya Mucychuk
(Ukr) 5.5 each; 9-10. Lela Javakhishvili (Geo), Olga Girya
(Rus) 5 each; 11 Tan Zhongyi (Chn) 4; 12 Pia Cramling
(Swe) 3.5.
GM Koneru Humpy
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