B. Adhiban and P. Harikrishna kept alive their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals, but K. Humpy found the going tough on the opening day of the $100,000 Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament on Saturday.
After five rounds of the round-robin phase in the 16-player field, Adhiban (3 points), Harikrishna (2.5) and Humpy (1) had their task cut out for the remaining 10 rounds.
The results (involving Indians): Fifth round: B. Adhiban drew with P. Harikrishna; K. Humpy drew with Abhimanyu Mishra (USA).
Fourth round: Vladislav Artemiev (Rus) bt Adhiban; Harikrishna drew with Shakhariyar Mamedyarov (Aze); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) drew with Humpy.
Third round: Adhiban drew with Ju Wenjun (Chn); Le Quang Liem (Vie) drew with Harikrishna; Humpy lost to David Anton (Esp).
Second round: Eduardo Iturrizaga (Esp) lost to Adhiban; Harikrishna bt Humpy.
First round: Adhiban bt Aryan Tari (Nor); Nakamura bt Harikrishna; Humpy lost to Artemiev.
Standings (after five rounds): 1. Wesley So (USA, 4), 2-4. Vladislav Artemiev (Rus), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Firouza Alireza (Fra) (3.5 each); 5-9. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze), David Anton (Esp), Le Quang Liem (Vie), Jorden van Foreest (Ned), B. Adhiban (3 each), 10-11. Levon Aronian (Arm), P. Harikrishna (2.5 each); 12-13. Aryan Tari (Nor), Eduardo Iturriaza (Esp), 14-15. Ju Wenjun (Chn), K. Humpy (1 each), 16. Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 0.5).
