Tags:
Journalism of Courage
World junior champion P Harikrishna finished joint second after defeating local favourite Grandmaster Alexander Stripunsky in the ninth and final round of the HB Foundation Global Chess Challenge at Minneapolis in the US.
Georgian Grandmaster Izoria Zviad won the title with 7.5 points out of a possible nine while Harikrishna, with seven points, finished in a tie for the second place in the tournament that carried a prize pool of half a million US dollars.
Zviad, who started the tournament in the fifth round only, was given three points to start with and in the remaining games the Georgian accumulated 4.5 points out of five to pocket the winner8217;s purse of 50,000 along with a Polanti watch worth 7,000.
Harikrishna, who shared the second spot with nine others, got 3,740.
Harikrishna later said that it was the toughest open tournament he had played ever.
8220;I have never played such strong opponents in open events ever before,8221; he said.
The exploits on the US soil will take the second highest rated Indian beyond the 2650 mark for the first time in his career.
8220;My next target will be 2700 but I really have to work hard for that for sure,8221; said Harikrishna, who is going to train under GM Elibjar Ubilava for one month in June.
Speaking about his final round game, Harikrishna said he was very pleased with his effort. 8220;It was one of my best games.
8220;Generally the event went very well for me. I played with as many as five players around 2650 and had a reasonable score against them. Perhaps my only weak moment was in one of the earlier rounds when I drew with a 2340 guy.8221;
Later this year, Harikrishna will play in one event in China in which many chess prodigies of the world are likely to compete.
He would also take part in the Spanish League team event, Laussane Young Masters and the Essent Tournament in which world8217;s top rated woman player Judit Polgar would be the star attraction.
