Harika moves closer to Grand Prix win

Chengdu (China), July 12 (IANS) Indian Grand Master Harika Dronavalli pulled off another fine draw in the ninth round of the Fide Women's Grand Prix on Tuesday to stay on top of the leaderboard with six points.

The young chess player from Guntur district of Andra Pradesh is just two steps away from winning her first Grand Prix title.

"The game got kind of complicated at the beginning; my opponent had a couple of good counter chances. But we got into a variation in which all the key pieces got exchanged," Harika explained.

The points table saw dramatic changes on Tuesday, with Koneru Humpy of India losing her game to Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine and slipping to the third position. Stefanova Antoaneta (5.5 points) moved to the second spot.

Harika will face Zhao Xue of China in the 10th round on Wednesday.