Harika Dronavalli suffers first loss in Reykjavik Open chess tournament

Harika DronavalliReykjavik: India’s Grand Master Harika Dronavalli’s unbeaten run came to an end when she lost to Dutch Grand Master Jorden van Foreest in the fifth round of the Reykjavik Open chess tournament here.

Harika, the World No.14, who had looked solid till now, ran into time trouble after a smart opening and ended up giving away a point on Saturday night.

"I was in a good position at the beginning but I consumed too much time in the middle game," she said in a release. "With the clock ticking away, I made one final mistake which proved to be my undoing," she added.

The Indian star is currently 40th on the table but just one and a half points behind leader Anish Giri with three wins and one draw.

The 10-round tournament will see the Guntur woman take on young FIDE Master Vignir Vatnar Stefansson from Iceland. Even though the local boy is rated lower and is joint 52nd after five rounds, he also has the same number of points as Harika.