Harika holds Melkumyan, Ravichandran loses to Maghami

Dubai: International Master Dronavalli Harika held Armenian Grandmaster Hrant Melkumyan to a draw, while compatriot Tejas Ravichandran`s dream run was halted by Grandmaster Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran in fourth round of the 12th Dubai International Open Chess tournament here. Harika played solidly with white pieces to keep the aspirations of Melkumyan at bay in a King`s Indian defense game and the Armenian could do no better than holding on to an equal position in a keenly contested encounter. Harika now shares the second spot with eight others, including compatriot Parimarjan Negi, on 3.5 points each in the nine-round event. Meanwhile, Maghami emerged as the sole leader in the USD 45,000 tournament after getting the better of Ravichandran, who had beaten three Grandmasters coming in to the fourth round. The Indian teenager, however, could not match a wily Maghami and lost from an English opening with white pieces in 39 moves. Negi defeated Spanish GM Martinez Julen Lius Arizmendi in 33 moves from a French defense game and ensured that he remains on the heels of the leader. But it turned out to be a tough day for former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta as he could not find his rhythm against fellow Indian International Master S Satyapragyan, playing the white side of a Bogo Indian defense. Abhijeet was under pressure for a long time before he could force parity and got half point. M R Lalith Babu did well to hold 15th seed Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvilli, while R R Laxman shared the point with GM Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus in the other games involving Indians on the top boards. International Master Sahaj Grover found his nemesis in Austrian GM David Shengelia who was on a roll with white pieces. The game was over quickly after Sahaj played badly in the English opening. Among the Indian girls in the fray apart from Harika, Eesha Karavade made her presence felt at the expense of Azerbaijan`s Nargiz Umudova who played black while Alexei Federov proved better than S Meenakshi. PTI