Defending champion P Harikrishna had to share the Marx Gyrogy Memorial International Chess title with Hungarian Peter Acs after being held to a draw
PAKS (HUNGARY): Defending champion P Harikrishna had to share the Marx Gyrogy Memorial International Chess title with Hungarian Peter Acs after being held to a draw by local GM Csaba Balogh in the final round as briefly reported in the DNA yesterday.
The Indian ended with six points out of a possible 10 after a mid-way recovery following a disastrous start. After the end of the final round Harikrishna confessed he could have done better but for the poor start.
In fact, Harikrishna was close to winning the event solely but for a final round mishap by veteran Viktor Korchnoi of Switzerland who resigned in a defendable position against Peter Acs. The game was close to being drawn when Korchnoi suddenly failed to spot the saving grace amidst tactical complexities and called it a day.
Had Acs drawn, he would have been half a point behind Harikrishna. While Harikrishna and Acs, who defeated the Indian in the first round, dominated the event, Balogh finished sole third on 5.5 points.
Korchnoi, after leading mid-way, slumped to fifth spot overall while Hou Yifan, though impressive in patches, finished last in the category-14 tournament. Harikrishna had little to do with slightly unfavourable colour in chess as Balogh was quite content going for level territories in the Ruy lopez opening as white.
Harikrishana yet again followed a recent game played by Jakovenko of Russia and equalised in quick time. All the minor pieces changed hands in the middle game and there was little to play for thereafter. The peace was a just result.
Korchnoi faced the Queen’s Gambit accepted and went haywire with his planning in the middle game to land in a worse position. However, Acs could not make most of his opportunities squandered his advantage thorough a tactical stroke that left Korchnoi with an extra pawn.
Final Results: Csaba Balogh (Hun, 5.5) drew with P Harikrishna (Ind, 6); Viktor Korchnoi (Sui, 4.5) lost to Peter Acs (Hun, 6); Hou Yifan (Chn, 3) drew with Ferenc Berkes (Hun, 5).
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