D. Harika beat former World champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia to move into the quarterfinals of the Women’s Speed Chess championship on Wednesday night. In a closely fought encounter that went into the four-game tie-breakers, the Indian won 14.5-12.5.
Harika’s fine victory came after India’s campaign got off to a disappointing start with Koneru Humpy going down to Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva on the opening day last Saturday. The other Indian in the fray, R. Vaishali will meet China’s Lei Tingjie on Saturday.