Harikrishna holds Adams in second round of Geneva chess meet

Geneva July 8 (IANS) Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna held English GM Michael Adams to a hard-fought draw in the second round of the Geneva FIDE Grand Prix here.

The World No. 22 Indian playing with white pieces started off aggressively on Friday and got into a better position but was pushed on to the back foot courtesy of a few clever moves from Adams.

Even though the Englishman had a slight advantage over Harikrishna he could not make any inroads and with time running out the players eventually decided to share the spoils.

"I had an advantage in the initial moments of the game with a better position and then he gained a slight advantage. He offered a draw in a slightly better position for him and I accepted " Harikrishna said after the game which lasted for 38 moves.

With one and a half points Harikrishna is currently tied second on the leaderboard. He will now take on the World No. 6 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan in his next round.

"I have played against him several times before recently a few months ago in Shamkir which ended in stalemate. It is always interesting to play against a player of his calibre " the Guntur player concluded.

--IANS
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