India’s Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli started her campaign in the Isle of Man International Chess Tournament on a winning note, comfortably beating Rocabado Fernando of Argentina in a late night match here on Saturday.
Harika Dronavalli
World number 10 Harika, with a ELO rating of 2542, hardly broke into a sweat against her lower ranked opponent (ELO 2187). She will have to be at her sharpest in this star-studded tournament, though, with close to 130 players in action in the elite Masters Category.
Ranked 36 for this event, Harika plays USA Grandmaster So Wesley in the next round, who comes into the game on the back of a win over French Grand Master Brunello Marina. Wesley is ranked No. 2 and has a high rating of 2794.
The open tournament has a number of Indian players in the fray, including Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna. The winner in the Masters Category pockets an impressive prize money of £12,000 while the runner-up and the third-placed will get £6,000 and £4,000 respectively.