Harikrishna leads at Hastings

The Indian beat the higher rated English player (2517) in 90 moves to emerge joint leader after the second round.

Harikrishna, whose rating is 2502, and Alexei Barsov (2525) of Uzbekistan, Nicholas Pert (2451) of England and Petr Kiriakov (2547) of Russia share the top spot with 1.5 points each.

Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran (2569) lies in second place with one point after settling for a quick draw in his second round match against Alexei Barsov of Uzbekistan after 14 moves.

Sasikiran, Joseph G Gallagher of Switzerland and Peter Wells of England are in the second place with a point each.

Earlier, in the first round, Harikrishna drew with Krishnan Sasikiran after 69 moves.

In the Challengers tournament, International Woman Master Nisha Mohota lost her second round match against Aimen Rizouk of Algeria. Earlier, in the first round, she had scored a sensational victory over Grandmaster Niel McDonald of England on Saturday.

International Master Neeraj Kumar Mishra also lost his second round match against Daniel Gormally of England. Another Indian Aarthie Ramaswamy drew with Zvonko Stanojoski of Makadonia.

Earlier on Saturday, Neeraj Kumar Mishra and Aarthie Ramaswamy had also caused upsets beating English GM Keith Arkell and GM Colin McNab of Scotland respectively.

GM Dibyendu Barua drew against Jochen Kountz of Germany, while Pravin Thipsay lost to Simon Williams of England.

The other Indian woman GM Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi won her second match defeating Bjorn Thorfinnsson. Earlier in the first round she had defated Joerg Wegerle of Germany quite easily with black pieces.

IWMs Saheli Dhar-Barua and IWM Bhagyashree Thipsay both won, while Meenakshi Subbaraman and Swati Ghate lost in the second round.

The moves:
P Harikrishna vs P Wells
Result: 1-0
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 Nbd7 12. Ba5 Rc8 13. Nc3 Ba8 14. a4 b4 15. Na2 Nd5 16. Qc4 N5b6 17. Qxa6 Bc6 18. Bxb6 Nxb6 19. b3 Be4 20. a5 Ra8 21. Qb5 Nd7 22. a6 c6 23. Qa4 Qb6 24. Nc1 Ra7 25. Qa5 Qxa5 26. Rxa5 Rfa8 27. Nd2 Bxg2 28. Kxg2 Rxa6 29. Rxa6 Rxa6 30. Nd3 Ra2 31. Rd1 g6 32. Kf1 c5 33. dxc5 Nxc5 34. Nxb4 Rb2 35. Nc6 Bf8 36. b4 Na6 37. Nc4 Rc2 38. N4e5 Nxb4 39. Nxb4 Bxb4 40. Rd8+ Kg7 41. Rd7 Kf6 42. Nxf7 g5 43. Nh6 Kg6 44. Ng4 Rc5 45. Kg2 h5 46. Ne3 Re5 47. Nc2 Bc5 48. e3 Rf5 49. Ne1 Bf8 50. Nf3 Bg7 51. Rd6 Kf7 52. h4 gxh4 53. Nxh4 Rb5 54. Rd7+ Kf6 55. Nf3 Rb6 56. Nd2 Rc6 57. Ne4+ Kg6 58. Rd6 Rxd6 59. Nxd6 Be5 60. Ne4 Kf5 61. Nd2 Kg4 62. Nf3 Bf6 63. Nd4 e5 64. f3+ Kg5 65. Ne6+ Kg6 66. Nf8+ Kf7 67. Nd7 Bg7 68. e4 Kg6 69. Kh3 Kg5 70. Nc5 Bf6 71. Nd3 Kg6 72. Nb4 Bd8 73. Nd5 Kg5 74. f4+ exf4 75. gxf4+ Kg6 76. Kg3 Ba5 77. Kf3 Bd8 78. Kg3 Ba5 79. f5+ Kg5 80. f6 Kg6 81. e5 Bd8 82. Kf3 h4 83. Kg4 h3 84. Kxh3 Kf7 85. Kg4 Ke6 86. Kf4 Kxd5 87. Kf5 Ba5 88. e6 Kd6 89. e7 Kd7 90. Kg6

K Sasikiran vs A Barsov
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bf4 Nh5 9. Bg3 Bb7 10. e3 f5 11. Be2 Nc6 12. Rd1 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Rf7 14. O-O

Earlier report:
Sasikiran seeded No. 2 at Hastings