Prakash continues brilliant run

Double GM norm holder G B Prakash continued his brilliant run by holding The Netherlands' GM Dimitri Reinderman to a draw in the second round of the Goodricke International Open chess tournament in Calcutta on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old Prakash, who upset Polish GM Tomasz Markowski in the opening round, now has 1.5 points to his credit to stay on course for his final GM norm, as six players including India's Koneru Humpy, Nasir Wajih and Lanka Ravi shared the lead with two points each.

But the biggest upset of the day came when top seed Russian GM Andrei Kharlov lost to GM Ghaem Maghami Eshan (2) of Iran in a dramatic 68-move game.

Philippines GM Buenavent Villamayor (2) got the better of Uzbek GM Alexie Barsov in a Slav defence, while Asian junior girls' champion Humpy chalked out an easy win over B T Muralikrishnan in a Reti opening. Humpy, who had an extra pawn in a Bishop versus Knight endgame, had little difficulty in fashioning a win.

S Meenakshi, who stunned WGM Joanna Dworakowska of Poland yesterday, went down to Wajih in 37 moves in a Ruy Lopez opening.

Other Indians finishing with a good round were IM and Asian Junior boys' champion Tejas Bakre, who drew against the high-ranking GM Dimitri Komarov of Ukraine, while national title holder GM Abhijit Kunte prevailed over Surya Sekhar Ganguly in 29 moves in a Ruy Lopez opening.