Grand Master P Harikrishna held Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to a draw in his third-round game at the Geneva FIDE Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Indian No 2, ranked 22nd in the world, played with white pieces and went with an offensive strategy that noticeably troubled his opponent, who is ranked 16 places above him in the rankings. While at one point, Harikrishna looked to be on the verge of winning his second game, a slight lapse in his tactical assessment saw him lose out on the opportunity and gave his opponent a chance to comeback in the game.
Talking about the result after the conclusion of the game, Harikrishna pointed out, “I was playing a good game and got into a winning position but played the wrong move to give away the win. Instead of playing Kh2 on the 28th move, the precise move to win would have been Nc5.”
Harikrishna’s next game, to be played on Sunday, is against Mamedyarov’s fellow Azerbaijan player Teimour Radjabov. Speaking about his tie against Radjabov, Harikrishna said: “Teimour has been playing really well in this tournament so far. He is a solid player and I’ll look to play my normal game and see how it goes.”
Radjabov currently leads the points table, with two wins and a draw.