Isle of Man, October 1: Indian Grand Master Harika Dronavalli played out a hard-fought draw against Australian GM John Paul Wallace after toiling it out for a marathon 62 moves in the eight-round of the Isle of Man International Tournament, late on Saturday night. However, in the seventh-round, she lost out to World No. 3 Vladimir Kramnik after putting up a valiant fight.
The World No. 10 Indian, playing with black pieces against the Australian GM, started off on an equal note but maneuvered herself into a better position in the initial stages of the game.
However the Australian, who was at his defensive best quickly retreated to equalize the situation. From there on after, both players tried hard to make inroads but ended up repeating moves to eventually share the spoils.
“It was absolutely equal in the starting but I got into a better position as the game went on but couldn’t convert them into a win,” Harika conceded after her game.
Earlier on Friday night, Harika playing with white pieces against the World No. 3, started the game off on a positive note but the experienced Vladimir slowly piled on the pressure on her and left her with no space to maneuver her king and emerged victorious.
“It was special playing against my favourite player, even though I lost but I am happy to have got the chance to play him and learn so much from the game,” Harika said after her seventh-round loss.
As the tournament nears it’s end with just one round left, Harika has amassed a total of four points registering three wins, three losses and two draws.
She will take on German IM Evgeny Degtiarev in the penultimate round of the tournament and will be looking to finish higher in the standings.