India’s D Harika, Swapnil Dhopade and Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan continued their winning run to be tied with 17 others for the top-spot after the second round of the Isle of Man International Chess tournament on Sunday.
Grandmaster Harika defeated German FIDE Master Michael Babar in 46 moves while Narayanan got the better of compatriot Ojas Kulkarni. Dhopade defeated L’ami Alina for his second successive win.
“I got into an advantageous position in the initial phases of the game and didn’t let off the pressure to gradually push him out,” Harika said.
Harika will take on Swedish Grand Master Nils Grandelius in her third-round encounter, “I am completely focused on the next game and will look to keep the momentum in my favour,” the Guntur-based Grand Master added.
The 26-year-old started her campaign started her campaign with an emphatic win against Englishman Oyama Akito.
As many as seven Indians are in rank 21, a list that includes veteran Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi, SP Sethuraman, Vishnu Prasanna, Nihal Sarin, Harsha Bharathakoti and CRG Krishna.