Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli kept her chances of finishing in the top five alive after a hard-fought draw in the third round of the elite FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament on Monday.
Playing aggressively right from the start, she pushed her lower-ranked opponent from Russia, Natalia Pogonina, into time trouble, PTI reported.
But Pogonina made her 40th move within her stipulated time of 90 minutes with barely a few seconds to go. That was enough for her to save the game and share the point.
Harika (ELO 2543 points) has one point after three rounds, with two draws and one victory, and is placed joint-eighth.
The Indian has been in fine form this year, having won the Chengdu Grand Prix in July and taking the best woman player trophy in the Eurasian Blitz Tournament in Kazakhstan.
