Headlines
World Women's Chess: Harika, Mariya's first semi-final game a draw
By
Venkatachari JagannathanChennai, March 29
India's Grandmaster (GM)
Harika Dronavalli on Sunday drew her first game in the World Women's
Chess Championship 2015 semi-final round against Ukraine's Women GM
(WGM) Mariya Muzychuk in 60 moves at Sochi in Russia.
The
24-year-old Dronavalli (FIDE rating 2492), ranked 16th among the women
chess players, drew the game fighting hard against the 23-year-old
Muzychuk (FIDE rating 2526) ranked 12th in the world.
Playing white pieces, the Ukranian opted for the Scotch opening.
"This
opening is rarely played in the top tournaments. Harika seems to have
prepared well in this line given the speed at which she played her
moves," WGM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman told IANS.
On move 12,
Dronavalli went in for exchange of queens. After trading of some more
pieces, both the players were left with two rooks, couple of minor
pieces and pawns.
The position was equal and the game was expected to end in a draw if both the fighters played well without making any errors.
On
move 24, Muzychuk went in for exchange of one rook as Dronavalli did
not allow her opponent to dominate one file with her rook.
However,
the Ukranian had a better pawn structure and her rook and white bishop
had active play while the movement of Dronavalli's knight and rook were
restricted.
"The position is still balanced. But with black,
Harika did a good job controlling her position. I think she is playing
smart chess," Susan Polgar, a four-time women's world chess champion,
told IANS.
At the end of the 32nd move, Muzychuk had two passed
pawns on her king side and Dronavalli's focus was on restricting their
progress.
The one point which was in favour of the Indian girl was the time pressure that her opponent faced.
However, Muzychuk completed her stipulated moves within the allotted time and transferred the pressure to Dronavalli.
At
the end of the 46th move, the position on the board was slightly weaker
to Dronavalli with her opponent coordinating her rook, bishop and king
to support the passer.
An error on the part of Ukranian would be enough to get a draw but they do not generally make such mistakes, Subbaraman said.
And
that is what precisely happened on the 48th move, when Muzychuk moved
her bishop to the d7 square giving the much needed breather to
Dronavalli.
The Indian seized the rare opportunity and equalised
the position with some intelligent play and on the 60th move both the
players signed the peace treaty.
"Harika played her moves very well after that," Subbaraman said.
In the next game, Dronavalli will play white against Muzychuk.
The
semi-final contests consist of two games. If the score after two games
remains equal, the match is continued on the tie-break.
In the other semi final game, Swedish GM Pia Cramling won against Russian WGM Natalija Pogonina after 79 moves.