World Women's Chess: Harika advances

Dronavalli Harika proved her superiority in the endgame to outplay Anna Muzychuk in the second rapid tie-breaker and sail into the third round of the ongoing World Women's Chess Championship in Nalchik (Russia).

After Harika and her opponent from Slovenia had drawn both the classical games, the tie-break became necessary to end the deadlock.

The first game of the rapid match also ended in a draw but Harika eventually scored a fighting victory in the second rapid game to move ahead in the Championship.

The first game saw Harika defending against the Maroczy bind with the black pieces, just as she did in the classical game. Muzychuk managed to obtain a strong central passed pawn but Harika exchanged pieces and forced a draw by perpetual check in the queen ending.

After drawing the first game of the rapid tie-breaks, the player seemed ready for a very complicated battle in the second.

Harika played the English opening and made her aggressive intentions clear by advancing her rook pawn very early in the game. In reply, Muzychuk launched a sharp counter-attack and the position remained unclear for a long time.

An error on the 37th move by Harika lander her in a spot of bother but Muzychuk erred in the endgame to hand over a gilt-edged opportunity to the Indian. Muzychuk struggled on till the 91st move but had to resign when she could not stop Harika's passed pawn from queening.