CAP DE' AGDE: Indian grandmaster Harika Dronavalli produced a spirited performance on the second day of the 14th Anatoly Karpov Rapid International Chess Tournament here today.
The world number 5 Harika started the proceedings on a positive note against local favourite and Grandmaster Cornette Matthieu.
Playing in the third game of the tournament, she took to a defensive strategy and held off a strong challenge from the higher ranked Matthieu with an ELO rating of 2599 to draw the tie. The Indian then took on Spanish Grandmaster Muzychuk Anna in her fourth game.
She started on a good note but a few inaccurate moves saw the Spaniard with an ELO rating of 2561 take advantage in due course. Harika could not keep up with the pace of her opponent and she finally threw in the towel.