Asian Games: Indian Men Falter In 2nd Round Of Chess; Koneru Humpy, D Harika Post Two Wins Each

Third-seeded Indian Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi bounced back from a shock loss to post victories in the third and fourth rounds of the men’s individual event at the Asian Games on Monday. The 28-year old Gujrathi beat Prin Laohawirapap of Thailand in the third round before defeating Le Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the next to take his tally to three points. He is currently placed sixth. Along with compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, the fourth-seed, Gujrathi is on three points, half a point behind leaders — Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and top-seed Wei Yi of China after four rounds.

(Asian Games 2023 medals tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule)

The 20-year old Erigaisi beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in round three before settling for a draw with Iran GM Tabatabeai Seyedmohammadami.

In the women’s event, India’s top players Koneru Humpy and D Harika slipped after starting with wins in the first two rounds. They were able to score only half point from the two rounds on Monday.

China’s top-seed Hou Yifan proved to be a hard nut to crack for the Indians as she beat Harika in round three and Humpy in the next.

Humpy drew her game against Chinese player Zhu Jiner in round three before suffering a loss in the next match.

After a loss to Yifan in the third round, Harika drew with Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan.

The two Indians have 2.5 points each after four rounds along with five other players.

Yifan is a point clear of the field with four points followed by Jiner.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)