Harika loses in chess tourney

Isle of Man, Oct 4 (IANS) Indias young Grand Master Harika Dronavalli put up a spirited fight against Englands Michael Adams but couldnt avert her first defeat in a late night game in the Isle of Man International Chess tournament here.

World No.10 Harika, seeded 36th in this tournament, couldn't keep up with the fourth-seeded Adams and threw in the towel when the game started slipping out of her fingers here late on Monday night.

She has played three games so far, extracting a win and a draw in her first two rounds.

Harika accepted the loss gracefully, pointing out that Adams is a top flight player. "He is a big gun. I started off with some decent moves but Adams countered me well and outplayed me slowly," she conceded.

The Indian GM will next play Germany's Thomas Paehtz, who comes in with a draw against India's GM Aravindh Chithambaram in the earlier round.